Highway 12 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ruta 12 | ||||
| Avenida Santiago de los Caballeros | ||||
 | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by Puerto Rico DTPW | ||||
| Length | 6.4 km[1] (4.0 mi) | |||
| Existed | 1960[2][note 1]–present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end | Port of Ponce in Playa | |||
| Major intersections | ||||
| North end |  PR-14 in Machuelo Abajo | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| Territory | Puerto Rico | |||
| Municipalities | Ponce | |||
| Highway system | ||||
| ||||
Puerto Rico Highway 12 (PR-12), also called Avenida Malecón,[3] and Avenida Santiago de los Caballeros, is a 6.4-kilometer,[4] 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.[5] 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.[6]
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.[2] 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.[7]
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.
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The entire route is located in Ponce. All exits are unnumbered.
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| Location | km[1] | mi | Destinations | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Playa | 0.0 | 0.0 | Rafael Cordero Santiago Port of the Americas (Calle A) | At-grade intersection; southern terminus of PR-12; access to the Complejo Recreativo y Cultural La Guancha | |
| 0.4 | 0.25 |   PR-123 north | At-grade intersection; southern terminus of PR-123; access to Ponce Playa | ||
| 1.0– 1.1 | 0.62– 0.68 | Avenida Caribe | Access to Hilton Ponce Golf & Casino Resort | ||
| 1.3 | 0.81 | Ponce Playa (Calle Puerto Viejo) | Southbound exit and entrance; access to the Puerto Rico Department of Labor and Human Resources | ||
| 2.1 | 1.3 |  PR-52 – San Juan, Juana Díaz, Santa Isabel, Mayagüez | Cloverleaf interchange; PR-52 (unsigned PRI-1) exits 104A and 104B | ||
| 2.5 | 1.6 |  PR-52 south / PR-Avenida Rafael Cordero Santiago – Mayagüez, Plaza del Caribe | Partial cloverleaf interchange; access to the University of Puerto Rico at Ponce, Judicial Center and the Puerto Rico State Insurance Fund Corporation | ||
| San Antón | 3.3 | 2.1 |  PR-2 – Ponce Este, Ponce Oeste, Mayagüez | Diamond interchange; the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico access is via PR-2 west | |
| 4.1 | 2.5 |  PR-163 (Avenida Las Américas[a]) – Ponce Centro, Ponce Este | Diamond interchange; Museo de Arte de Ponce and the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico access is via PR-163 west | ||
| 5.2 | 3.2 |  PR-133 (Calle Comercio) – Ponce Centro | Diamond interchange | ||
| 5.1 | 3.2 |   PR-1 west (Bulevar Miguel Pou) | Incomplete diamond interchange; southbound exit and entrance; access to Ponce Centro | ||
| Machuelo Abajo | 5.7 | 3.5 | Calle Obispado (unsigned) | At-grade intersection | |
| 6.4 | 4.0 | PR-14 – Ponce Norte, Adjuntas, Cerrillos | Seagull intersection; northern terminus of PR-12; access to Ponce Centro and Juana Díaz | ||
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | |||||
Media related to Puerto Rico Highway 12 at Wikimedia Commons
