The Diokno Highway, also known as Payapa Road and formerly as Tagaytay-Junction–Calaca-Lemery Road,[2] is a 20.064-kilometer (12.467 mi),[1] two-lane, secondary road in Batangas that connects the city of Calaca, near its border with Nasugbu and Alfonso, Cavite, and the municipality of Lemery.[3] It connects southern Cavite and Batangas.
.svg) | |
|---|---|
| Payapa Road Tagaytay-Junction–Calaca-Lemery Road | |
| Route information | |
| Maintained by Department of Public Works and Highways - Batangas 1st District Engineering Office[1] | |
| Length | 20.064 km[1] (12.467 mi) |
| Existed | 1945–present |
| Component highways |  N410 |
| Major junctions | |
| North end |  N410 / N407 (Tagaytay–Nasugbu Highway) in Calaca, Batangas |
| South end |  N436 (Palico–Balayan–Batangas Road) in Lemery, Batangas |
| Location | |
| Country | Philippines |
| Provinces | Batangas |
| Major cities | Calaca |
| Towns | Laurel, Lemery |
| Highway system | |
| |
The highway is apparently named after Ramón Diokno, a native of Taal, Batangas who served as a representative for Batangas, senator and Supreme Court associate justice.[4][5]
Route description edit
Diokno Highway starts at its intersection with Tagaytay–Nasugbu Road in Calaca, near the provincial boundary of Batangas and Cavite. Starting from near the foot of Mount Batulao, it runs through the mountainous terrain on the western edge of the Taal Volcano Natural Park, traversing especially Payapa Ilaya and Payapa Ibaba, barangays in Lemery to where its alternate name, Payapa Road, apparently derived its name from. It terminates at Palico–Balayan–Batangas Road in Lemery at the south.
History edit
The origin of the highway could be traced back to 1945, when the US Army Corps of Engineers built a “dusty, twisting, narrow” road between Mount Batulao and Lemery as the shorter route relative to Route 17, which connected Imus and Batangas via Palico in Tuy and includes the present-day Aguinaldo Highway, Tagaytay–Nasugbu Road and Palico–Balayan–Batangas Road. According to Major Edward M. Flanagan Jr. in his 1948 book, this road was called the Shorty Ridge Road, which likely refers the present-day Diokno Highway.[6][7]
A portion of the highway was affected by a landslide caused by Typhoon Melor (Nona) in December 2015; fortunately, the entire stretch was open to traffic as of December 17.[8] In August 2016, a 100-meter (330 ft) section of the highway in Calaca was closed to traffic due to road slip and collapsed slope protection following the continuous heavy rains in the area.[9] As a result, the Diokno Bridge was reconstructed beginning in the first quarter of 2017. The reconstructed bridge was inaugurated on November 13, 2018.[2] The highway was also affected by the January 2020 Taal Volcano eruption, resulting to poor visibility on the highway and damage worth ₱41.62 million.[10][11]
References edit
- ^ a b c "Road and Bridge Inventory". Department of Public Works and Highways. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
- ^ a b "VILLAR: Diokno Bridge connecting Tagaytay City and Lemery, Batangas is now open". Department of Public Works and Highways. November 13, 2018. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
- ^ "2016 DPWH Road Data". Department of Public Works and Highways. Archived from the original on January 9, 2018. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
- ^ Cantos, Joy (July 24, 2016). "4 drug pushers, itinumba" (in Filipino). Pilipino Star Ngayon. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
- ^ "DPWH traffic advisory for R. Diokno Highway in Batangas City". Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. April 7, 2014. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
- ^ Buhay Batangas (July 13, 2018). "Two Tagaytay–Batangas Shortcut Roads Built by US Army Engineers in 1945". Batangas History, Culture and Folklore. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
- ^ Buhay Batangas (June 30, 2018). "The Role of the US Army 158th RCT in the Liberation of Batangas in 1945". Batangas History, Culture and Folklore. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
- ^ "Report on Effects of Typhoon Nona as of 8:00 a.m., December 18, 2015". Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. December 18, 2015. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
- ^ "Diokno Highway in Calaca, Batangas Closed to Traffic". Department of Public Works and Highways. August 11, 2016. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
- ^ ABS-CBN News [@ABSCBNNews] (January 13, 2020). "Poor visibility along R Diokno Highway in Lemery, Batangas making evacuation more difficult | via @jeffcanoy #TaalVolcano" (Tweet). Retrieved January 29, 2022 – via Twitter.
- ^ "Taal Volcano eruption's damage to roads, bridges now P153-M". Department of Public Works and Highways. January 31, 2020. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
External links edit
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