Puerto Rico Highway 22 (PR-22), also part of unsigned Interstate PR2, is an ''Guía de Carreteras Principales, Expresos y Autopistas.'' (In Spanish) Puerto Rico Autoridad de Carreteras y Transportacion (ACT).
/ref> long

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 ...

on the north coast of

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 ...

that connects the cities of

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 ...

and Hatillo. The road is also known as the ''José de Diego Expressway'' (Spanish: ''Expreso José de Diego''), and is part of unsigned

Interstate 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 H ...

PR-2. It is a 4-lane road for much of its length, but expands to up to 12 lanes in the San Juan metro area. The road is frequently congested, in particular during rush hour due to heavy commuter traffic.

Route description

PR-22 is Puerto Rico's most traveled highway. PR-22 runs parallel to PR-2 and is concurrent with unsigned Interstate Highway PRI-2. Unlike PR-22, PR-2 is not a controlled-access road, and has numerous traffic signals throughout the full run of its course. The construction of highway PR-22 reduced congestion on PR-2. The eastern terminus is at PR-26 (a non-tolled freeway) in Santurce, and passes through the

Minillas Tunnel The Minillas Tunnel is a road tunnel located in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It starts at the beginning of Puerto Rico Highway 22 (unsigned Puerto Rico Highway 2, Interstate PR-2), in the vicinity of Santurce, Puerto Rico, Santurce, near Condado (Santu ...

before its terminus at PR-26. The freeway bypasses all of the cities PR-2 passes through (see below under "Course of the Expressway"). PR-22's western terminus is at PR-2 in Hatillo. From there, PR-2 continues to Aguadilla and Mayagüez, ending in Ponce. PR-22 Tunel Minillas.jpg, PR-22 begins in San Juan through

San juan freeway.jpg, PR-22 enters the city of

. The San Juan skyline is visible in the background

Municipalities served

The following is the list of municipalities/towns which PR-22 cuts through, in order from San Juan to Hatillo (westbound): *

* Guaynabo * Cataño * Bayamón * Toa Baja *

Dorado Dorado (, ) is a constellation in the Southern Sky. It was named in the late 16th century and is now one of the 88 modern constellations. Its name refers to the mahi-mahi (''Coryphaena hippurus''), which is known as ''dorado'' ("golden") in Sp ...

* Vega Alta * Vega Baja * Manatí * Barceloneta *

Arecibo Arecibo (; ) is a Arecibo barrio-pueblo, city and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the northern coast of Puerto Rico, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, located north of Utuado, Puerto Rico, Utuado and Ciales, Puerto Rico, Ciale ...

* Hatillo

Express lanes

In 2013, 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 ...

and

Metropistas ''Autopistas Metropolitanas de Puerto Rico, LLC'' stylized as ''metropistas'' is the public–private partnership, privately held company, and limited liability company A limited liability company (LLC) is the United States-specific ...

inaugurated express lanes with dynamic tolling (DTL) between Bayamón and Toa Baja 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 Río Hondo to the Toa Baja Toll Plaza with a variable rate between $1.75 and $4.95 per direction. The speed limit on the nearly 12-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 near Vega Alta.

History

Construction of this road began in 1969. The section from San Juan to Toa Baja opened in 1969 and in 1997 to Arecibo. Construction of the road was partially funded from appropriations of the U.S. Interstate Highway System.

Privatization

In 2011, the Autopistas Metropolitanas de Puerto Rico (Metropistas) consortium, comprised by Abertis Infraestructuras and Goldman Sachs Infrastructure Partners II LP, placed the winning bid for the 40-year PR-22 and PR-5 highway concession. The highways generate between $90 million and $95 million annually in toll revenue, which will now go to the private operators.

Future

PR-22 is planned to be extended to Aguadilla. The extension will be built as part of a

public–private partnership A public–private partnership (PPP, 3P, or P3) is a long-term arrangement between a government and private sectors, private sector institutions.Hodge, G. A and Greve, C. (2007), Public–Private Partnerships: An International Performance Revie ...

, who will maintain and operate PR-22 for the next 40 years.

Services

Logo signs

In 2021, Metropistas began installing logo signs at exits advertising available food, gas, lodging, camping, and attractions available at exits via a contract with SunColors. As of January 2022 such signs have been installed at Exit 13 in Bayamón, and Exit 48 in Manatí.

Tolls

PR-22 is maintained by a system of tolls managed by the Puerto Rico Department of Transportation and Public Works. All of its toll plazas have express lanes. After June 17, 2017, the seven tolls plaza of the PR-22 will become bidirectional. Peaje de Manatí, Manatí, Puerto Rico.jpg, Manatí Toll Plaza Peaje de Toa Baja, Toa Baja, Puerto Rico.jpg, Toa Baja Toll Plaza Peaje de Buchanan, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico.jpg, Buchanan Toll Plaza Originally, PR-22 had only five toll plazas (Fort Buchanan, Toa Baja, Vega Alta, Factor ramp, and Hatillo); the Manatí and Arecibo toll plazas were added in the early 1990s. The future segment from Hatillo to Aguadilla is expected to have four additional toll plazas;DTOP
/ref> however, it remains to be seen whether they will be one way or two way. As of 2014–2015, plans are underway to implement

Open road tolling Open road tolling (ORT), also called all-electronic tolling, cashless tolling, or free-flow tolling, is the collection of tolls on toll roads without the use of tollbooths. An electronic toll collection system is usually used instead. The major ...

(ORT) and currently on many stretches of PR-22; Cash is no longer accepted to pay tolls with the exception of replenishing the toll tag. On June 17, 2017 the new two-way collection rates came into effect by AutoExpreso in PR-22 and PR-5.

Exit list

Autopista PR-22, salidas hacia la carretera PR-165, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico (1).jpg, PR-22 east approaching exits 7A-B to PR-165 in Guaynabo Autopista PR-22, salida hacia la carretera PR-167, Bayamón, Puerto Rico (2).jpg, PR-22 east at exit 13 to PR-167 in Bayamón PR-140, Florida Farmacéuticas, Salida 57 sign on PR-22.jpg, PR-22 east at exit 57 to PR-140 in Barceloneta PR-22, sign for exits 75 A-B, PR-10 Arecibo, Utuado, Adjuntas.jpg, PR-22 east approaching exits 75A-B to PR-10 in Arecibo

References

External links

* {{Public–private partnerships in Puerto Rico 022 22 Public–private partnerships in Puerto Rico 22 Tolled sections of Interstate Highways