The Balintawak Interchange , also known as the Balintawak Cloverleaf, is a two-level

cloverleaf interchange A cloverleaf interchange is a two-level interchange in which all turns are handled by slip roads. To go left (in right-hand traffic; reverse directions in left-driving regions), vehicles first continue as one road passes over or under the ...

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 2,960,048 people. It was foun ...

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila (often shortened as Metro Manila; fil, Kalakhang Maynila), officially the National Capital Region (NCR; fil, link=no, Pambansang Punong Rehiyon), is the capital region, seat of government and one of three List of metrop ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

which serves as the junction between

Epifanio de los Santos Avenue Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, commonly referred to by its acronym EDSA, is a limited-access circumferential highway around Manila, the capital city of the Philippines. It passes through 6 of Metro Manila's 17 local government units or citi ...

(EDSA) and the

North Luzon Expressway The North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), signed as E1 of the Philippine expressway network, partially as N160 of the Philippine highway network, and R-8 of the Metro Manila arterial road network, is a limited-access toll expressway that connects ...

(NLEx). Opened in 1968 as part of the initial NLEx segment between Quezon City and Guiguinto,

Bulacan Bulacan, officially the Province of Bulacan ( tl, Lalawigan ng Bulacan), is a province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. Its capital is the city of Malolos. Bulacan was established on August 15, 1578, and part of the Me ...

, it was one of the first projects of the Construction and Development Corporation of the Philippines, now the

Philippine National Construction Corporation The Philippine National Construction Corporation (PNCC) is a government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC) in the Philippines. It is the largest construction company in the Philippines and in Southeast Asia. It is usually tasked with majo ...

(PNCC). Construction of the interchange was precipitated by the large number of motor vehicles in Manila and the surrounding suburbs in the 1960s, which contributed to significant

traffic congestion Traffic congestion is a condition in transport that is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. Traffic congestion on urban road networks has increased substantially since the 1950s. When traffic d ...

. On June 25, 1966,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martia ...

ordered the Department of Public Works to undertake the construction of a number of road projects to be financed through

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

reparations, including the construction of interchanges on vital intersections along EDSA.

Office of the President of the Philippines The Office of the President of the Philippines (OP; fil, links=no, Tanggapan ng Pangulo ng Pilipinas), is an administrative, advisory, and consultative government agency that aids the president of the Philippines in performing their duty as he ...

. (1966).
Official Week in Review: June 16 — June 30, 1966
. ''

Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines The ''Official Gazette'', which is printed by the National Printing Office (NPO), is the public journal and main publication of the government of the Philippines. Its website only uploads what has been published; it is managed by Presidentia ...

'', 62(31), cclxi-cclxxvii. This order would later lead to the construction of this interchange, replacing a previous

roundabout A roundabout is a type of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junction.''The New Shorter Oxford E ...

between EDSA, A. Bonifacio Avenue, and Quirino Highway, and the

Magallanes Interchange The Magallanes Interchange is a four-level partial turbine interchange in Makati, Metro Manila, the Philippines, serving as the junction between the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX), Osmeña Highway, and Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA). It is ...

between EDSA and the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX), which opened in 1975. A shrine to Andres Bonifacio would later be constructed inside the interchange, which underwent a renovation in 2009. Flooding in the area around the Balintawak Interchange is a problem, with the interchange being named in 2014 as one of the twenty-two most flood-prone roadways in Metro Manila. In 2015, the Manila North Tollways Corporation, the concessionaire of NLEX, spent close to to improve the interchange's drainage systems in order to mitigate flooding. In addition to flooding, the interchange has been criticized by columnist Cito Beltran of ''

The Philippine Star ''The Philippine Star'' (self-styled ''The Philippine STAR'') is an English-language newspaper in the Philippines and the flagship brand of the Philstar Media Group. First published on July 28, 1986, by veteran journalists Betty Go-Belmonte, ...

'' for being rife with corrupt policemen and petty crime. Apart from the wet markets and drop-off points of goods from the north, Ayala Malls Cloverleaf and the entire Cloverleaf complex is located southeast of the interchange. An LRT-1 station serves the location east of the interchange.

References

{{Authority control Road interchanges in the Philippines