Puerto Rico Highway 22

Highway 22 PRI-2 José de Diego Expressway Route information Maintained by Autopistas Metropolitanas de Puerto Rico Length: 51 mi (82 km) Major junctions East end: PRI-3 / PR-26 in San Juan, PR West end: PRI-2 / PR-2 in Hatillo, PR Highway system Puerto Rico Highways ← PR-21 PR-23 → File:San juan freeway.jpg PR-22 enters the city of San Juan. The San Juan skyline is visible in the background. File:PR-22 Tunel Minillas.jpg PR-22 begins in San Juan through Minillas Tunnel.

PR-22 (also part of unsigned Interstate PR2) is a 51-mile (83-km) long toll road in 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: Expreso De Diego), and is part of unsigned Interstate 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.

The road is part of the U.S. Interstate Highway System.

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 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 and Interstate PRI-2 continues to Aguadilla and Mayagüez, ending in Ponce.

History

Construction of this road began in 1969. The section from San Juan to Toa Baja opened in 1969 and in 1997 to Arecibo.

Future

PR-22 is planned to be extended to Aguadilla. The extension will be built as part of a public–private partnership, who will maintain and operate PR-22 for the next 40 years.

Privatization

The Autopistas Metropolitanas de Puerto Rico 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.

Exit list

Note: Kilometer markers and exit numbers increase from east to west.

Municipality	Location	km	mi	Exit	Destinations	Notes
San Juan		0	0		PRI-3 / PR-26 – San Juan, Carolina	East end of Interstate PR2 and PR-22. Splits into PR-26 and Interstate PR3.
				0	PR-35 / PR-25 – San Juan	Exits are signed as Exit 0A, Exit 0B, but Exit 0C in the tunnel are unsigned. This exits are only accessible in Eastbound direction.
				1	PR-1 – San Juan	Exits Signed  1A and 1B.
				2	PRI-1 / PR-18 – San Juan, Caguas	2A exits to PR-18, and 2B exits to Plaza Las Americas.
				5	PR-2 / Avenida José De Diego – San Juan, Guaynabo	The PR-2 Northbound is accessible from PR-22 Westbound, and PR-2 Southbound is accessible from Exit 6.
Guaynabo				6	PR-2 – Guaynabo, San Juan	In Westbound direction there are a exit (Exit 5) to PR-2 Northbound after Exit 2B.
				7	PR-165 – Guaynabo, Cataño	Exits Signed  7A and 7B
Bayamon				9	PR-5 – Bayamon, Cataño
				10	PR-5 – Bayamon	Only Westbound direction. This is a new version of (freeway version) of original access exit (Exit 9).
				11	PR-869 – Palmas
				13	PR-167 – Bayamon, Naranjito, Comerio
Toa Baja				16	PR-866 – Sabana Seca
				17	PR-865 / PR-866 – Campanillas, Candelaria
				22	PR-165 – Dorado, Toa Baja, Toa Alta, Corozal	Westbound exits are signed as 22A (north) and 22B (south)
Dorado				24	PR-693 / PR-659 – Dorado, Toa Alta
Vega Alta				27	PR-694 / PR-695 – Maguayo, Higuillar
				31	PR-690 (Cerro Gordo)	Westbound exit and Eastbound entrance
				32	PR-2 – Vega Alta, Vega Baja
Vega Baja				35	PR-160 (Almirante Norte)
				38	Vega Baja, Avenida Trio Vegabajeno	Westbound exit and Eastbound entrance
				42	PR-137 – Morovis, Vega Baja
Manati				46	PR-686 – Manati, Tierras Nuevas
				48	PR-149 – Manati Centro, Ciales
Barceloneta				55	PR-140 – Barceloneta
				57	PR-140 – Florida, Farmaceuticas
Arecibo				64	PR-2 / PR-683 – Garrochales, Factor	Toll with no electronic toll collection on westbound on-ramp
				71	PR-638 – Domingo Ruiz, Bajadero
				75	PR-10 – Arecibo, Utuado, Adjuntas	Signed as exits 75A (north) and 75B (south)
				77	PR-129 – Arecibo, Lares, San Sebastian	Signed as exits 77A (north) and 77B (south)
Hatillo				84	PRI-2 / PR-2 – Hatillo, Arecibo, Mayaguez	West end of PR-22. Splits into PR-2; Interstate PR2 continues westbound via PR-2 as an At-grade traffic light expressway.
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Toll plazas

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. There are eastbound tolls in Hatillo, Vega Alta, and Guaynabo. Westbound tolls are found in Toa Baja and Manatí. The Arecibo toll plaza collects tolls in both directions. All toll plazas have restroom facilities; the Vega Alta toll plaza also has an ATM.

PR-22 has seven toll plazas (three eastbound, two westbound, one two-way, and one ramp).

Location	Toll	Direction	AutoExpreso acceptance	AutoExpreso replenishment (R) lane	Notes
Hatillo	$1.20	Eastbound
Arecibo / Factor	$0.60	Westbound (ramp)			Only ramp toll plaza on PR-22
Arecibo	$0.90	Two-way			Only two-way toll plaza on PR-22 Features unique roof design
Manatí	$1.70	Westbound			Features unique roof design
Vega Alta	$1.20	Eastbound
Toa Baja	$1.20	Westbound
Guaynabo / Fort Buchanan	$1.20	Eastbound			Toll plaza with the most lanes in Puerto Rico

Originally, PR-22 had only five toll plazas (Hatillo, Vega Alta, Toa Baja, Fort Buchanan, and the Factor ramp); the Arecibo and Manatí toll plazas were added in the early 1990s.

The future segment from Aguadilla to Hatillo is expected to have four additional toll plazas, 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 (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.