| Country: | PHL |
| Circumferential Road 5 | |
| Alternate Name: | C-5 Road |
| Image Notes: | C-5 corner Kalayaan Avenue, looking towards Pasig |
| Allocation: |
|
| Maint: | the Department of Public Works and Highways, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, and NLEX Corporation |
| Length Km: | 43.87 |
| Direction A: | North |
| Terminus A: | in Valenzuela |
| Direction B: | South |
| Terminus B: | in Las Piñas |
| Cities: | Las Piñas, Parañaque, Pasay, Pasig, Quezon City, Taguig, and Valenzuela |
Circumferential Road 5 (C-5), informally known as the C-5 Road, is a network of roads and bridges which comprise the fifth beltway of Metro Manila in the Philippines.[1] Spanning some 43.87km (27.26miles), it connects the cities of Las Piñas, Parañaque, Pasay, Pasig, Quezon City, Taguig, and Valenzuela.
It runs parallel to the four other beltways around Metro Manila and is also known for being the second most important transportation corridor after Circumferential Road 4.[2]
Originally planned to run from Navotas in the north, the route is not yet complete because of certain controversies regarding the right of way, but portions of the route are already open for public use. On July 23, 2019, the two segments of the route were connected with the completion of the CAVITEX C-5 Link through a 2.2km (01.4miles) flyover over the Skyway and the SLEX in 2019.[3] [4]
It is also known as Metro Manila's deadliest highway route, having 31 fatalities in 2019, 27 in 2018, and 23 in 2017. This is due to trucks and motorcycles along the narrow highway, as well as its road conditions.[5]
C-5 lies parallel to other circumferential roads around Metro Manila, most notably EDSA of C-4. It passes through the cities of Valenzuela, Quezon City, Pasig, Taguig, Pasay, Parañaque, and Las Piñas, in addition the Embo barangays that were part of Makati until its transfer to Taguig in 2023. The road is divided into several segments.
See main article: NLEX Harbor Link. From MacArthur Highway in Karuhatan, Valenzuela to Harbor Link Interchange, a cloverleaf interchange with the main line of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), C-5 is a toll road known as NLEX Karuhatan Link or NLEX Segment 9. Measuring 2.4km (01.5miles) long, it is also the first segment of the NLEX Harbor Link project, which connects the NLEX with the Port of Manila.[6]
From the Harbor Link Interchange to a 3-way signalized junction with Mindanao Avenue, C-5 is known as NLEX–Mindanao Avenue Link or NLEX Segment 8.1. The entire 2.7km (01.7miles) toll road is also designated as a part of C-5 Road.
See main article: Mindanao Avenue. At the eastern end of NLEX Segment 8.1, C-5 turns southeast and becomes Mindanao Avenue. It is a 10-lane divided carriageway that serves as the main transportation corridor of Barangays Talipapa and Tandang Sora in Quezon City. The 3.5km (02.2miles) portion of this 6.7km (04.2miles) road from NLEX Segment 8.1 to Congressional Avenue is designated as a portion of C-5.
See main article: Congressional Avenue. At the signaled junction with Mindanao Avenue, C-5 turns northeast as Congressional Avenue, a six-lane divided carriageway that serves as the main east-to-west transportation corridor of Barangays Bahay Toro, Culiat, Pasong Tamo, and Tandang Sora in Quezon City. It continues east for 3.9km (02.4miles) up to Luzon Avenue.
At the end of Congressional Avenue Extension, C-5 turns south as Luzon Avenue, a 4-lane divided city road between Barangays Culiat and Matandang Balara in Quezon City, for 850m (2,790feet) up to Commonwealth Avenue. The 6-lane Luzon Avenue Flyover carries C-5 across Commonwealth Avenue to connect it with Tandang Sora Avenue.
See main article: Tandang Sora Avenue. Southeast of Commonwealth Avenue, C-5 is known as Tandang Sora Avenue. It runs for 1km (01miles) from Barangay Matandang Balara, going around the University of the Philippines Diliman campus, up to the junction with Magsaysay Avenue.
The original planned route of C-5 included the entire 9.6km (06miles) road; however, due to the road's incapacity to carry a large amount of vehicular traffic, only the 1km (01miles) portion from the Luzon Avenue Flyover to Magsaysay Avenue was designated as a portion of C-5 Road. Furthermore, Tandang Sora Avenue becomes a six-lane divided carriageway shortly after crossing Capitol Hills Drive, 350m (1,150feet) south of the flyover.
See main article: Katipunan Avenue. After crossing Magsaysay Avenue, C-5 turns south and becomes Katipunan Avenue, a ten-lane divided carriageway that serves as the main transportation corridor of Matandang Balara, Pansol, Loyola Heights, and Project 4 in Quezon City. It heads south for 4.8km (03miles) until its junction with Bonny Serrano Avenue. Shortly before crossing Bonny Serrano Avenue, a 4-lane divided underpass descends from Katipunan Avenue, traverses underneath Col. Bonny Serrano Avenue and ascends into Libis Flyover, which immediately connects it to E. Rodriguez Jr. Avenue.
See main article: Bonny Serrano Avenue. C-5 passes through a section of Colonel Bonny Serrano Avenue, a four-lane undivided avenue, as a connecting corridor 500m (1,600feet) from Katipunan Avenue to Eulogio Rodriguez Jr. Avenue. The Libis Tunnel and Libis Flyover traverse between the avenue's westbound and eastbound lanes.
At its junction with Bonny Serrano Avenue and FVR Road at the Libis Tunnel and Libis Flyover, C-5 then turns south as Eulogio S. Rodriguez Jr. Avenue, a 6.7km (04.2miles), 10-lane divided road that serves as the main thoroughfare between Quezon City and Pasig. The road ends at a junction with Pasig Boulevard and continues onto C.P. Garcia Bridge, which crosses the Pasig River and eventually becomes Carlos P. Garcia Avenue shortly afterwards. The avenue is named after Eulogio Rodriguez Jr., a former representative and governor of Rizal.[7]
Past the C.P. Garcia Bridge over the Pasig River, C-5 becomes Carlos P. Garcia Avenue. It is a 7.5km (04.7miles), fourteen-lane divided road that serves as the main thoroughfare in western Taguig. It passes through a small portion of Embo (formerly part of Makati) and continuously passes Taguig, where it bypasses Bonifacio Global City and meets the exit ramps to the CAVITEX–C-5 Link and the South Luzon Expressway before ending at the intersection with East Service Road.
It is not to be mistaken with the legal name of the C-5 route.
Across the South Luzon Expressway, C-5 continues as C-5 Road Extension from West Service Road near Merville Exit of SLEX in Pasay. It also serves as the two frontage roads of CAVITEX–C-5 Link's section in Pasay. It traverses south of Ninoy Aquino International Airport and enters Parañaque. In Barangay Santo Niño, C-5 is briefly known as Kaingin Road, passing by warehouses up to Multinational Avenue. It then curves around Amvel City, crosses Dr. A. Santos Avenue and Diego Cera Avenue, and ends at the Manila–Cavite Expressway (CAVITEX) in Las Piñas. The future LRT Line 1 Extension will run along most of the Las Piñas segment of C-5 Road Extension.
Studies conducted by the PHIVOLCS revealed that a large portion of C-5 is built on top of the West Valley Fault. A map of the fault line released on May 18, 2015, shows C-5 in Taguig beside the fault line.[8] The C-5 road is prone to liquefaction.[9]
The proposal for the Metro Manila Arterial Road System was made in the late 1960s.[10] The proposal mentions building ten radial roads and six circumferential roads to support Metro Manila's growing vehicular population. Circumferential Road 5's original alignment was to begin at a proposed coastal road near Manila Bay in Navotas at the north and traverse around Manila up to Radial Road 1 (now comprises the Manila–Cavite Expressway) at the south.[11] In the 1970s, its proposed southern alignment included a route through Bicutan and the area what is now the Better Living Subdivision in Parañaque.[12]
Construction of Circumferential Road 5 began in 1986.[10] [13] The project also involved building new alignments that would combine with old existing roads, including Eulogio Rodriguez Jr. Avenue, built in the 1960s. The first phase of the C-5 Road from Taguig to Ortigas Avenue, Pasig, which cost approximately to construct, was officially inaugurated by President Fidel V. Ramos on December 30, 1994.[14] Under the power of Republic Act No. 8224, which was passed on November 6, 1996, the C-5 road was legally known as President Carlos P. Garcia Avenue after the eighth President of the Philippines, Carlos P. Garcia.[15]
On July 23, 2007, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo announced in her State of the Nation Address that C-5 Road will be extended to northern Metro Manila up to the North Luzon Expressway in Valenzuela.[16]
From April 2009 to June 2010, the NLEX–Mindanao Avenue Link (Segment 8.1) in Valenzuela and Congressional Avenue Extension from Tandang Sora to Luzon Avenues in Quezon City were constructed. Carlos P. Garcia Avenue Extension in the South Extension in Parañaque was also opened. In March 2015, the NLEX–Karuhatan Link (Segment 9) was opened to all motorists. The opening of Segment 9 from NLEx to MacArthur Highway in Karuhatan, Valenzuela served as a preparation for the Holy Week season.
Presently, the Luzon Avenue Flyover connecting Tandang Sora and Luzon Avenues across Commonwealth Avenue is open to all motorists. Before the flyover's opening, the Congressional Avenue Extension from Visayas to Luzon Avenue was opened in 2010 to decongest heavy traffic in the Visayas–Tandang Sora Avenue Intersection.
From September 2022 to April 2024, the C-5 Quirino Flyover, which crosses Diego Cera and Fruto Santos Avenues in Las Piñas, was constructed on the C-5 Extension. It opened on April 24, 2024.[17]
In 2012, the Senate of the Philippines investigated the south extension project, which would pass several of Manny Villar's properties, such as Camella. The original extension, called the Manila–Cavite Toll Expressway Project (MCTEP), was already approved by the Senate and would have been made as a toll expressway. The project eventually resurrected as C-5 Southlink Expressway (now known as CAVITEX–C-5 Link).[18]
In 1993, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) studied the proposed urban expressway system in Metro Manila. The master plan for the planned network, meant to have 150km (90miles) of expressways, included the proposed Central Circumferential Expressway that would follow the old C-5 alignment from Navotas to Parañaque with a total length of about 45.8km (28.5miles).[19]
More than two decades later, NLEX Corporation (formerly Manila North Tollways Corporation) and CAVITEX Infrastructure Inc. submitted a proposal for C-5 Expressway, a 19km (12miles) fully elevated expressway that would further decongest the existing C-5 and provide a fully controlled-access route between CAVITEX C-5 Link and NLEX Segment 8.2 (C-5 Link).[20] The proposed expressway would utilize portions of the existing C-5's right of way between SLEX and Pasig Boulevard and run above Marikina River from Pasig Boulevard to Luzon Avenue.
See main article: NLEX Harbor Link.