Puerto Rico Highway 52 (PR-52), a major

toll road A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road for which a fee (or ''Toll (fee), toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented to help recoup the costs of road construction and ...

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

, is also known as . It was formerly called . It runs from PR-1 in southwest

Río Piedras Rio or Río is the Portuguese and Spanish word for "river". The word also exists in Italian, but is largely obsolete and used in a poetical or literary context to mean "stream". Rio, RIO or Río may also refer to: Places United States * Rio, Flo ...

and heads south until it intersects with highway

PR-2 Puerto Rico Highway 2 (PR-2) is a road in Puerto Rico that connects the cities of San Juan and Ponce. At 156 miles (230 km) long, it is Puerto Rico's longest singled-signed highway. The road runs counter-clockwise from San Juan to Ponce. ...

in Ponce. At its north end, the short PR-18 continues north from PR-52 towards

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

. This short segment is known as , the only segment of the route still unofficially bearing this name, since PR-18 is officially named . The combined route of PR-18 and PR-52 runs

concurrent Concurrent means happening at the same time. Concurrency, concurrent, or concurrence may refer to: Law * Concurrence, in jurisprudence, the need to prove both ''actus reus'' and ''mens rea'' * Concurring opinion (also called a "concurrence"), a ...

with the unsigned

Interstate Highway The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, or the Eisenhower Interstate System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Hi ...

PRI-1. Toll stations are located in

Caguas Caguas (, ) is a city and municipality in central eastern Puerto Rico. Located in the eponymous Caguas Valley between the Sierra de Cayey and Sierra de Luquillo of the Central Mountain Range, it is bordered by San Juan and Trujillo Alto to ...

, Salinas,

Juana Díaz Juana is a Spanish female name. It is the feminine form of ''Juan'' (English ''John''), and thus corresponds to the English names Jane, Jean, Joan, and Joanna. The feminine diminutive form (male equivalent to ''Johnny'') is Juanita (equival ...

, and Ponce. Ruta 52 en Beatriz, Cayey, Puerto Rico.jpg, Heading south in

Cayey Cayey (), officially Cayey de Muesas, is a mountain town and municipality in central Puerto Rico located on the Sierra de Cayey within the Central Mountain range, north east of Salinas and north of Guayama; south of Cidra and Caguas; east o ...

PR-52 near Salinas, Cayey with rainbow.jpg, Heading north between Salinas and Cayey Puerto Rico Highway 52, PR-52, heading north, near the town of Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico.jpg, Heading north near Santa Isabel

Route description

PR-52 is Puerto Rico's longest and second most traveled tollway. The road is mostly a 2-lane road in each direction. The section between the Caguas toll and the town of Salinas crosses the

Cordillera Central Central Cordillera refers to the New Guinea Highlands. Cordillera Central, meaning ''central range'' in Spanish, may refer to the following mountain ranges: * Cordillera Central, Andes (disambiguation), several mountain ranges in South America ** ...

, resulting in a more curvy and hilly section than the other sections of the highway. It also experiences more fog and lower visibility than the rest of the road due to the altitude. The speed limit is also reduced in the area. One of Puerto Rico's only 2

rest areas A rest area is a public facility located next to a large thoroughfare such as a motorway, expressway, or highway, at which drivers and passengers can rest, eat, or refuel without exiting onto secondary roads. Other names include motorway ser ...

is located on this expressway
map
The other rest area is located on

PR-53 Puerto Rico Highway 53 (PR-53) or unsigned Interstate PR3 is a main tollway that is parallel to Puerto Rico Highway 3, which goes from Fajardo to Salinas. Some segments are still in planning, but when finished it will be about in length. Two ...

(northbound only) near

Humacao Humacao () is a city and municipality in Puerto Rico located in the eastern coast of the island, north of Yabucoa; south of Naguabo; east of Las Piedras; and west of Vieques Passage. Humacao is spread over 12 barrios and Humacao Pueblo (the ...

/ Naguabo municipality border although it is signed as a scenic zone and thus just like the rest area on PR-52, it has no facilities
map
The rest area, however, has no relief, vending, or service facilities such as a restaurant or a gas station. The rest area does include an important monument, the Monumento al Jíbaro Puertorriqueño. The whimsical

Tetas de Cayey Cerro Las Tetas, nicknamed Las Tetas de Cayey but officially Las Piedras del Collado, are two mountain peaks located in the municipality of Salinas, Puerto Rico, north of the city of Salinas proper. Since September 1, 2000, the peaks have become ...

are visible from this rest area as well. PR-52 passes extremely close to the central town of Cidra between approximately kilometer markers 34 and 30. In fact, Exit 32 to Guavate is so close to the Cidra border that once the exit is taken and instead of going south to Guavate and Patillas through PR-184, going north it quickly ends at PR-1 and a welcome sign to Cidra is shown. The tollway itself never enters Cidra itself, but PR-1 (the parallel road from Ponce to San Juan) does. The speed limit from San Juan to Caguas is . From Caguas to Salinas, it is , and from Salinas to Ponce, it is . Mon al jibaro2.JPG, The Monumento al Jíbaro Puertorriqueño and Las Tetas de Cayey Cayey landscape from PR-52.JPG, View from PR-52 in Cayey Tacoma pick-up on PR-52, with water and flag, after Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico.jpg, A

Toyota Tacoma The Toyota Tacoma is a pickup truck manufactured by Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota since 1995. The first-generation Tacoma (model years 1995 through 2004) was classified as a compact pickup; subsequent models are classified as mid-size ...

pick-up truck on PR-52 south, with water and flag, after

Hurricane Maria Hurricane Maria was an extremely powerful and devastating tropical cyclone that affected the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, which accounted for 2,975 of the 3,059 deaths. It is the ...

(2017)

Express lanes

In 2021, the

Puerto Rico Department of Transportation and Public Works The Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTOP; ) is the Executive department of the government of Puerto Rico, Executive Department of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico that regulates transportation and public works in Puerto Rico.Trans ...

and the

Puerto Rico Highways and Transportation Authority The Puerto Rico Highways and Transportation Authority (PRHTA) (ACT) is the government-owned corporation of Puerto Rico charged with constructing, operating, and maintaining roads, bridges, avenues, highways, tunnels, public parkings, tolls ...

inaugurated express lanes with dynamic tolling (DTL) between San Juan and Caguas to help alleviate traffic congestion during peak hours. These

reversible lane A reversible lane, also known as variable lane, dynamic lane, and tidal flow, is a managed lane in which traffic may travel in either direction, depending on certain conditions. Typically, it is meant to improve traffic flow during rush hours, b ...

s extends from PR-18, near Río Piedras Medical Center, to the Caguas Norte Toll Plaza with a variable rate between $0.50 and $6.00 per direction. The speed limit on the nearly 14-kilometer route ranges between 50 and 55 miles per hour (80–90 km/h). It is expected that in the long term the lanes will be extended to PR-30 heading to Gurabo.

History

The building of this ''Guía de Carreteras Principales, Expresos y Autopistas.'' (In Spanish) Puerto Rico Autoridad de Carreteras y Transportación (ACT).
/ref> expressway took place during the administration of governor

Luis A. Ferré Don Luis Alberto Ferré Aguayo (February 17, 1904 October 21, 2003) was a Puerto Rican engineer, industrialist, politician, philanthropist, and patron of the arts. He was the governor of Puerto Rico from 1969 to 1973. He was the founder of the ...

, who was trained as a civil engineer himself. It was built at a cost of $125 million. PR-52 was Puerto Rico's first toll road ever. Construction for this road started in October 1968 during the administration of governor Roberto Sánchez Vilella, also a trained engineer, and continued during Luis Ferre's tenure. It was then named , and it was planned to run from San Juan to Ponce. On 9 December 1993, Law 118 was enacted which renamed the roadway . The expressway is currently the longest in the island, but this will change when the 83-km-long

PR-22 Puerto Rico Highway 22 (PR-22), also part of unsigned Interstate PR2, is an long toll road on the north coast of Puerto Rico that connects the cities of San Juan and Hatillo. The road is also known as the ''José de Diego Expressway'' (Spanish ...

extends to Aguadilla. In March 1969 the roadway became a tolled expressway. The Puerto Rico Highway and Transportation Authority reports that tolls were added to the highway to speed up its construction. The road was completed in 1975 during the first administration of governor Rafael Hernández Colón.Legends of Puerto Rico
On 22 July 2019, more than half a million Puerto Ricans shut down PR-52 demanding the resignation of the then governor,

Ricardo Rosselló Ricardo Antonio Rosselló Nevares (; born March 7, 1979) is an American former politician, businessman, neurobiologist and educator. He served as Governor of Puerto Rico from 2017 until his resignation in 2019. In 2021, he returned to active ...

, following a leaked

Telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...

chat between the governor and several members of his cabinet.

Tolls

Exit list

Puerto Rico Highway 52.jpg, PR-52 south at its exit to PR-1 south in San Juan Autopista PR-52, salidas hacia la carretera PR-177, San Juan, Puerto Rico.jpg, PR-52 south approaching exits 1A-B to PR-177 in San Juan Autopista PR-52, salida hacia la carretera PR-199, San Juan, Puerto Rico (2).jpg, PR-52 south at exit 2 to PR-199 in San Juan Letras de PONCE, PR-52 southbound, Barrio Sabanetas, Ponce, Puerto Rico, looking southwest (DSC05090Z).jpg, PR-52 south entering Ponce at its interchange with

PR-10 Puerto Rico Highway 10 (PR-10) is a major highway in Puerto Rico. The primary state road connects the city of Ponce in the south coast to Arecibo in the north; it is also the shortest route between the two cities. Construction on the modern PR ...

Route description

Express lanes

History

Tolls

Exit list

See also