Rizal Avenue

Rizal Avenue
Rizal Avenue
Route information
Length:	6.5 km (4.0 mi)
Component highways:	R-9 R-9
Major junctions
North end:	Monumento in Caloocan
	9th Avenue Extension, 5th Avenue, R. Papa, Jose Abad Santos, Aurora Boulevard, Blumentritt Road, Tayuman Street, Bambang, Doroteo Jose, Claro M. Recto Avenue West Avenue (C3), EDSA (includes Rizal Ave. Extension)
South end:	Carriedo Street in Quiapo, Manila

For the street in Makati, see J.P. Rizal Avenue.

Rizal Avenue also known as "Avenida" or "Avenida Rizal" is one of Manila's main thoroughfares. Named after the national hero José Rizal, it is a part of Radial Road 9 (R-9). The LRTA's LRT Line 1 elevated railroad is built above the street in its entire length, and several jeepneys ply the area taking passengers from Caloocan and Quezon City. Most of the street is within the Sta. Cruz district.

Rizal Avenue is a part of the Pan-Philippine Highway, connecting MacArthur Highway to Ronquillo and Bustos Streets, which further connects it to Plaza Santa Cruz, crossing the Pasig River via MacArthur Bridge towards Padre Burgos Avenue.

Contemporary landmarks

The LRT-1 stations are the main landmarks of the avenue; there are nine of them at Rizal Avenue. Shopping malls found along the Avenue are Araneta Square, Uniwide Sales, Ever Gotesco Grand Central, SM City San Lazaro (a walking distance from Tayuman Street) and at the south end is the Isetann Carriedo. Right before the southern end was the Manila Grand Opera House, now the Manila Grand Opera Hotel. In front of Isetann is Plaza Lacson (formerly Plaza Goiti). The avenue also provides access to the entrance and exit gates of the Manila Chinese Cemetery. The San Lazaro Compound (which hosts the San Lazaro Hospital, the Dr. Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center and the Department of Health) and the Espiritu Santo Parish Church are the other landmarks along the avenue.

History

Rizal Avenue in the late 1970s.

The Avenida Rizal was created by Manila City ordinance in 1911 from two streets – Calle Dulumbayan (literally the edge of town) and Calle Salcedo. It lengthened in the next two decades all the way up to Caloocan and the then new monument honoring Andres Bonifacio. It became the city's longest street before being overshadowed by EDSA later in the century. Prior to and right after World War II, the avenue was center of the city's social life, with the street lined with shops, restaurants and movie theaters. The theaters were designed by the prominent architects of the day, many of whom would become National Artists.^[1]^[2]

Two National Artists for architecture, Pablo Antonio and Juan Nakpil, created several of the movie theaters along the avenue. Antonio designed the Galaxy, the Ideal, the Scala and the Lyric theaters, while Nakpil designed the Capitol, the Ever and the Avenue theaters. As the years went by, the area was victimized by urbal renewal.

The main culprit of the deterioration of the area was the LRT-1; the train was to ease traffic in Rizal Avenue and Taft Avenue south of the Pasig River but it also killed business along the route. The cinemas themselves resorted to showing double feature B-movies and soft porn, as people transferred to the newer and more modern Ortigas Center and the Ayala Center.^[1]

In 2000, during the mayorship of Lito Atienza, the stretch from C.M. Recto Avenue to Palanca Street was turned into a pedestrian-only thoroughfare by laying bricks on the road, with the buildings and the LRT-1 painted as part of an urban renewal project. This caused vehicles to use the secondary roads such as Tomas Mapua and Doroteo Jose Streets in order to go to and from Plaza Lacson.^[1]^[3] The Ideal Theater was previously demolished, the Galaxy, Scala and Lyric theaters are now misused. The first level of the Ever Theater is occupied by stalls, while the upper levels are abandoned. Only the refurbished Capitol Theater, now a dimsum palace, survived the modern times and is still active.^[1] The pedetrianization of Rizal Avenue was completed on 2003 and was meant to only last for a short time but it has persisted until 2008.^[3]^[4]

The Avenue Theater, which survived the Battle of Manila of 1945, was demolished in 2006 to give way to a parking area. The costs of maintaining the facility were too high, as compared for it to be converted as a parking area. The National Historical Institute (NHI) and several private entities tried to prevent the building from being torn down.^[1]

Prevented from running a fourth conservative term as mayor, Atienza's party nominated his son Ali Atienza for the mayoral race, but he was beaten by then Senator Alfredo Lim, Atienza's predecessor as mayor (Lim resigned his Senate seat and Atienza was later appointed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as Environment and Natural Resources Secretary). One of Lim's first decisions was to reopen the pedestrian-only section of Rizal Avenue, which has elicited complaints from shopkeepers due to decreased traffic of people, and from commuters which caused traffic jams on secondary streets.^[4] Since the cost of the tiles for the pedestrianization was about P40 each, the tiles had been carefully removed for it to be used in future projects.^[3]

On July 17, 2007, Lim attended the ceremony reopening the closed portion of Rizal Avenue, and it has remained open to this day.^[4]

Train stations along Rizal Avenue

R. Papa LRT Station above Rizal Avenue

All are LRT Line 1 stations:

In addition, the LRT Line 2 crosses the avenue at C.M. Recto Avenue, and the Recto Station is a short walk away from the avenue. The Philippine National Railways also crosses Rizal Avenue Extension, with Blumentritt railway station also a short walk away.

Other Rizal Avenues

"Rizal Avenue" and its variations thereof such as "Rizal Street" are one of the most common street names in the Philippines. It usually serves as the main street of a town or city, and in cases towns and cities in the Luzon mainland, the street that leads to Manila is "Rizal Street". J.P. Rizal Avenue in Makati is one such street.

References

1 2 3 4 5 Alcazaren, Paulo (5 March 2005). "Manila's Broadway". The Philippine Star (Philstar.com). Retrieved 25 March 2012.
↑ Jalbuena, Katice (4 June 2006). "Rizal Avenue landmark gone". The Manila Times (Yehey.com). Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved 20 January 2009.
1 2 3 Lopez, Allison (2 July 2007). "Lim reopens Rizal Avenue, forest park". The Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on September 14, 2007. Retrieved 20 January 2009.
1 2 3 Lopez, Allison (17 July 2007). "Rizal Avenue old-timers welcome reopening". The Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on September 14, 2007. Retrieved 20 January 2009.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rizal Avenue.

Road infrastructure in Metro Manila

Limited-access roads	Epifanio de los Santos Avenue Manila–Cavite Expressway Metro Manila Skyway Muntinlupa–Cavite Expressway NAIA Expressway North Luzon Expressway South Luzon Expressway

Numbered routes	C-1 C-2 C-3 C-4 C-5 C-6 R-1 R-2 R-3 R-4 R-5 R-6 R-7 R-8 R-9 R-10

Provincial highways	AH26 Aguinaldo Highway Batasan–San Mateo Road Daang Hari Road MacArthur Highway Marikina–Infanta Highway Ortigas Avenue Quirino Highway Sumulong Highway

Major interchanges	C-5–Kalayaan Interchange C-5–Ortigas Interchange Estrella Flyover Magallanes Interchange Ortigas Interchange

Bridges	Ayala Bridge Estrella–Pantaleon Bridge Jones Bridge MacArthur Bridge Mabini Bridge Quezon Bridge San Juan River Bridge

Roundabouts	Anda Circle Monumento Elliptical Road Philippines–Thailand Friendship Circle Remedios Circle Welcome Rotonda

Planned	Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike Metro Manila Skybridge North Luzon East Expressway Pasig River Expressway R-7 Expressway

Under construction	NAIA Expressway

Streets of Metro Manila

Capital District	Abad Santos Avenue Adriatico Street Blumentritt Road Bonifacio Drive Del Pilar Street Escolta Street España Boulevard Hidalgo Street Jose Laurel Street Kalaw Avenue Lacson Avenue Legarda Street Magsaysay Boulevard Marcos Road Mendiola Street Pablo Ocampo Street Padre Burgos Avenue Padre Faura Street Pedro Gil Street Pureza Street Quezon Boulevard Quirino Avenue Ramon Papa Street Recto Avenue Rizal Avenue Roxas Boulevard Taft Avenue Tayuman Street United Nations Avenue Victorino Mapa Street Zobel Roxas Street

Eastern Manila District	ADB Avenue Andres Bonifacio Avenue Anonas Street Aurora Boulevard Balete Drive Batasan Road Betty Go-Belmonte Street Boni Avenue Bonny Serrano Avenue Commonwealth Avenue Elliptical Road Gilmore Avenue Gregorio Araneta Avenue Juan Ruiz Street Julia Vargas Avenue Kamuning Road Katipunan Avenue Meralco Avenue Mindanao Avenue North Avenue Ortigas Avenue Pioneer Street Quezon Avenue Regalado Highway Roosevelt Avenue San Miguel Avenue Shaw Boulevard Timog Avenue Tomas Morato Avenue

Southern Manila District	Alabang–Zapote Road Amorsolo Street Andrews Avenue Arnaiz Avenue Ayala Avenue Chino Roces Avenue Diego Cera Avenue Domestic Road Doña Soledad Avenue Dr. Santos Avenue Elpidio Quirino Avenue Estrella Street Gil Puyat Avenue Harrison Avenue J.P. Rizal Avenue Jose Diokno Boulevard Kalayaan Avenue Lawton Avenue Macapagal Boulevard Makati Avenue McKinley Road NAIA Road Nicanor Garcia Street Ninoy Aquino Avenue Paseo de Roxas South Avenue Tramo Street

CAMANAVA District	Letre Road Maysan Road North Bay Boulevard Samson Road

Coordinates: 14°36′56″N 120°58′57″E / 14.61556°N 120.98250°E / 14.61556; 120.98250

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