Puerto Rico Highway 12

{{Short description|Highway in Puerto Rico}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}} {{Infobox road |state = PR |type = PR |route = 12 |alternate_name = {{lang|es-pr|Avenida Santiago de los Caballeros}} |map = Map of PR-12.svg |maint = Puerto Rico DTPW |length_km = 6.4 |length_ref = <ref name="Google PR-12"/> |direction_a = South |terminus_a = Port of Ponce in Playa |junction = * {{jct|state=PR|Urban|123}} in Playa * Avenida Caribe in Playa * {{jct|state=PR|PR|52}} in Playa * Avenida Rafael Cordero Santiago in Playa * {{jct|state=PR|Urban|2}} in San Antón * {{jct|state=PR|Urban|163}} in San Antón * {{jct|state=PR|Urban|133}} in San Antón * {{jct|state=PR|Urban|1}} in San Antón |direction_b = North |terminus_b = {{jct|state=PR|Urban|14}} in Machuelo Abajo |established = 1960<ref name="Historia Moderna">Carmelo Rosario Natal. ''Ponce En Su Historia Moderna: 1945–2002.'' Published by Secretaría de Cultura y Turismo of the Government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 2003. p. 53.</ref><ref group=note>The segment south of the Ponce Bypass (PR-2) was built in 1960. The segment north of PR-2 was built in the 1990s, and completed in 2002.</ref> |municipalities = Ponce |previous_type = PR |previous_route = 10 |next_type = Urban |next_route = 14 }}

'''Puerto Rico Highway 12''' ('''PR-12'''), also called '''Avenida Malecón''',<ref>[http://www.gis.otg.gobierno.pr/webcensus/ General Purpose Population Data, Census 2000. Unidad de Sistemas de Información Geográfica, Área de Tecnología de Información Gubernamental, Oficina de Gerencia y Presupuesto. Gobierno de Puerto Rico.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100812171159/http://www.gis.otg.gobierno.pr/webcensus/ |date=12 August 2010 }} Retrieved March 15, 2010.</ref> and '''Avenida Santiago de los Caballeros''', is a 6.4-kilometer,<ref name=PRDTOP>[http://www.dtop.gov.pr/carretera/det_content.asp?cn_id=126 ''Guía de Carreteras Principales, Expresos y Autopistas.'' (In Spanish) Puerto Rico Autoridad de Carreteras y Transportacion (ACT). 17 November 2010.]</ref> limited-access highway entirely located within the city limits of Ponce, Puerto Rico, and connecting Puerto Rico Highway 14 to the La Guancha area in Barrio Playa in Ponce.<ref name=TPD>{{cite book |url= http://sashto.dtop.gov.pr/ACT/TRANSIT_DATA_REPORT_2000-2009.pdf |format= PDF |title= Transito Promedio Diario |language= es |trans-title= Average Daily Traffic (AADT) |publisher= Department of Transportation and Public Works. |author= Highways and Transportation Authority. Office of Traffic Data Compilation and Analysis. |location= San Juan, PR |year= 2010 |pages= 28–30 |type= Report |access-date= 9 May 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101105005724/http://sashto.dtop.gov.pr/ACT/TRANSIT_DATA_REPORT_2000-2009.pdf |archive-date= 5 November 2010 |url-status= dead }}</ref> It is similar to a freeway but has one traffic light near its intersection with PR-14. In addition to its northern and southern terminus, the highway has four full interchange exits: PR-52, PR-2, PR-133/Calle Comercio, and Avenida Las Américas. Since PR-12's southern terminus is at the Port of Ponce, its traffic volume is expected to grow as construction in the new Port of the Americas is completed.<ref>[http://www.portoftheamericas.com/about.project/phases.htm Links to Port of the Americas]</ref>

==Route description== With a length of about {{convert|6.4|km|sp=us}}, PR-12 begins at PR-14 (Avenida Tito Castro) intersection in Barrio Machuelo Abajo. PR-12 also intersects with Calle Obispado in Machuelo Abajo. Then, PR-12 enters Barrio San Antón, where meets with PR-1 (Boulevard Miguel Pou), PR-133 (Calle Comercio) and PR-163 (Avenida Las Américas) interchanges, and crosses the Río Portugués. After the river, PR-12 has an interchange with PR-2 (Ponce Bypass) between San Antón and Playa. In Barrio Playa, PR-12 has interchanges with Avenida Rafael Cordero Santiago, PR-52 (Autopista Luis A. Ferré) and Avenida Caribe, with intersections with Calle Puerto Viejo and PR-123 just before its southern terminus at the Port of Ponce and La Guancha. Most of the route has three lanes per direction, except in the southern terminus, where there are two lanes in both directions.<ref name="Google PR-12"/>

==History== <gallery class=center> PR-12, viajando hacia el Sur, al norte de la salida hacia la PR-133 (Calle Comercio), en Ponce, PR (DSC01665).jpg|Southbound lanes of PR-12, near exit to PR-133 (Calle Comercio), in Ponce PR-12, viajando hacia el Sur, al norte de la salida hacia la PR-133 (Calle Comercio), en Barrio San Antón, Ponce, PR, mostrando antiguo letrero de la PR-14.jpg|2008 PR-12 photo with old PR-14 signing Mapa de la carretera PR-12 en Ponce, Puerto Rico (M12).svg|Detailed map of PR-12 </gallery>

The 2.5 kilometer section of this road, from the Ponce Bypass to just a few feet from the Caribbean Sea at PR-123, was the first segment built; it was built in 1960.<ref name="Historia Moderna"/> It was called "Avenida Malecón" (Pier Avenue), as it led from the then-urbanized area of Ponce to the Ponce wharf. The segment north of PR-12's intersection with PR-2, that is, between PR-2 and Avenida Tito Castro was built in the 1990s, and completed in 2002, as part of the Ponce en Marcha project.<ref>Neysa Rodriguez Deynes. ''Brevario sobre la Historia de Ponce.'' Published by Oficina de Cultura y Turismo of the Government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 2002. p. 111.</ref>

PR-12 used to be signed as part of 'PR-14' before construction of the new PR-10 took place. The PR-14 signing has since been moved into another route (ending at Monumento a la abolición de la esclavitud, near downtown Ponce, while the PR-12 signing was assigned to the southernmost 5.28 kilometers of the old PR-14 route. As of 2008, the Puerto Rico Department of Transportation and Public Works had not yet updated the signing on the road, but by 2011 it had.

==Major intersections== {{PRinttop| municipality=Ponce|length_ref=<ref name="Google PR-12">{{google maps|url=https://www.google.com/maps/dir/17.9693599,-66.613795/18.0233116,-66.602543/@17.9964083,-66.6252726,14z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!4m1!3e0|title=PR-12|access-date=February 28, 2020}}</ref>|unnum=yes}} <gallery class=center> Letrero en la PR-12, km 0.6, viajando al norte, anunciando salida a Ave. Caribe, Bo. Playa, Ponce, PR (DSC04191B).jpg|PR-12 north at its exit to Avenida Caribe

Letrero en PR-12, viajando al norte, anunciando salida a Av. Rafael Cordero, Bo. Playa, Ponce, PR (DSC04195).jpg|PR-12 north at its exit to Avenida Rafael Cordero Santiago

Letrero en PR-12, viajando al norte, anunciando salida a Av. Las Américas, Bo. San Antón, Ponce, PR (DSC04206).jpg|PR-12 north near its exit to PR-163 (Avenida Las Américas) </gallery>  {{PRint |location=Playa |ctdab=Ponce |lspan=6 |km=0.0 |road=Rafael Cordero Santiago Port of the Americas (Calle A) |notes=At-grade intersection; southern terminus of PR-12; access to the Complejo Recreativo y Cultural La Guancha }} {{PRint |km=0.4 |road={{jct|state=PR|Urban|123|dir1=north}} |notes=At-grade intersection; southern terminus of PR-123; access to Ponce Playa }} {{PRint |km=1.0 |km2=1.1 |road=Avenida Caribe |notes=Access to Hilton Ponce Golf & Casino Resort }} {{PRint |km=1.3 |road=Ponce Playa (Calle Puerto Viejo) |type=incomplete |notes=Southbound exit and entrance; access to the Puerto Rico Department of Labor and Human Resources }} {{PRint |km=2.1 |road={{jct|state=PR|PR|52|name1=|city1=San Juan|city2=Juana Díaz|city3=Santa Isabel|city4=Mayagüez}} |notes=Cloverleaf interchange; PR-52 (unsigned PRI-1) exits 104A and 104B }} {{PRint |km=2.5 |road={{jct|state=PR|PR|52|name1=|dir1=south|road|Avenida Rafael Cordero Santiago|city1=Mayagüez|location2=Plaza del Caribe}} |notes=Partial cloverleaf interchange; access to the University of Puerto Rico at Ponce, Judicial Center and the Puerto Rico State Insurance Fund Corporation }} {{PRint |location=San Antón |ctdab=Ponce |lspan=4 |km=3.3 |road={{jct|state=PR|Urban|2|name1=|location1=Ponce Este|location2=Ponce Oeste|city3=Mayagüez}} |notes=Diamond interchange; the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico access is via PR-2 west }} {{PRint |km=4.1 |road={{jct|state=PR|Urban|163|name1=Avenida Las Américas{{efn|name=PR-163|Avenida Las Américas is also known as {{lang|es-pr|Bulevar Luis A. Ferré}}.}}|location1=Ponce Centro|location2=Ponce Este}} |notes=Diamond interchange; Museo de Arte de Ponce and the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico access is via PR-163 west }} {{PRint |km=5.2 |road={{jct|state=PR|Urban|133|name1=Calle Comercio|location1=Ponce Centro}} |notes=Diamond interchange }} {{PRint |km=5.1 |road={{jct|state=PR|Urban|1|name1=Bulevar Miguel Pou|dir1=west}} |type=incomplete |notes=Incomplete diamond interchange; southbound exit and entrance; access to Ponce Centro }} {{PRint |location=Machuelo Abajo |lspan=2 |km=5.7 |road=Calle Obispado (unsigned) |notes=At-grade intersection }} {{PRint |km=6.4 |road={{jct|state=PR|Urban|14|name1=|location1=Ponce Norte|city2=Adjuntas|city3=Cerrillos}} |notes=Seagull intersection; northern terminus of PR-12; access to Ponce Centro and Juana Díaz }} {{jctbtm|keys=incomplete}} {{Notelist}}

==See also== {{Portal|Puerto Rico|U.S. Roads}} * List of highways in Ponce, Puerto Rico * List of streets in Ponce, Puerto Rico

==Notes== {{Reflist|group=note}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

012 Category:Roads in Ponce, Puerto Rico

==External links== * {{Commons category-inline}}