Elpidio Quirino Avenue

Elpidio Quirino Avenue, also known simply as Quirino Avenue, is a major north-south collector road in Parañaque, southern Metro Manila, Philippines. It is a four-lane undivided arterial running parallel to Roxas Boulevard and its extension, the Manila–Cavite Expressway, to the west from Baclaran at Parañaque's border with Pasay in the north to San Dionisio right by the border with Las Piñas in the south. It is a continuation of Harrison Avenue from Pasay and was originally a segment of the coastal highway called Calle Real. The avenue is designated as a component of Manila's Radial Road 2 network. It was named after President Elpidio Quirino.

Route description

The street starts after F.B. Harrison Avenue at the junction of Harrison with Redemptorist Road and Taft Avenue (Taft Avenue Extension) near Baclaran Station, the current terminus of the elevated Manila LRT-1. It travels south across the crowded marketplace of Baclaran just behind the popular Baclaran Church and crosses Airport Road into the village of Tambo. The street then runs parallel to the Estero de Tripa de Gallina to the east which serves as Parañaque's border with Pasay and heads for the junction with NAIA Road and the elevated NAIA Expressway. A few hundred meters south, the road enters the village of Don Galo and crosses the Parañaque River into the old center (poblacion) of Parañaque called La Huerta. It then curves slightly upon reaching the St. Andrew's Cathedral and straightens back as it heads south into the village of San Dionisio. The road intersects with Victor Medina Street near the Kabihasnan Entrance to the Manila-Cavite Expressway and ends just a few hundred meters south as it enters the village of Manuyo Uno in Las Piñas where it continues as Diego Cera Avenue.

History

The old façade of the St. Andrew's Cathedral and Saint Andrew's School on Calle Real

Elpidio Quirino Avenue marks the original shoreline of Manila Bay in Parañaque pueblo as it existed during the Spanish colonial period. It forms part of an old Spanish coastal highway that linked the Province of Manila to La Laguna and other southern provinces. It was called Calle Real or Camino Real (Spanish for "royal street") which spanned from Ermita to Muntinlupa, Rizal. It was the location of Camp Dewey, an early U.S. military installation during the Philippine–American War.^[1] This "camp in Tambo" was converted into a Philippine Army camp in 1936.^[2] However, by 2003, the military camp known as Camp Claudio has been transformed into a housing and urban development site.^[3]

At present, only the Las Piñas and Muntinlupa section is called Calle Real or Real Street as an alternative name for the road. The Parañaque portion is renamed Elpidio Quirino Avenue while those of the City of Manila and Pasay have been renamed to Del Pilar Street and F.B. Harrison Avenue respectively.

References

Coordinates: 14°29′58″N 120°59′27″E / 14.49944°N 120.99083°E / 14.49944; 120.99083