The MacArthur Highway, officially the Manila North Road (MNRorMaNor), is a 684.855-kilometer (425.549 mi), two-to-six lane, national primary highway and tertiary highway in Luzon, Philippines, connecting CaloocaninMetro ManilatoAparriinCagayan at the north. It is the second longest road in the Philippines, after Pan-Philippine Highway. It is primarily known as MacArthur Highway in segments from Caloocan to Urdaneta, Pangasinan,[2] although it is also applied up to Ilocos Sur,[3] and likewise called as Manila North Road for the entire length.[1]
Manila North Road's section from Caloocan to Urdaneta, Pangasinan is officially recognized as MacArthur Highway,[5] although it is also known as such in La Union and Ilocos Sur.[3] Its section that forms part of N1/AH26 from Laoag to Aparri is also known as Maharlika Highway and a part of Laoag–Allacapan Road.[6]
Through the city proper of San Fernando, La Union, the road is locally known as Quezon Avenue. In Laoag, it forms part of Laoag–Paoay Road between Laoag Airport Road and at the city proper, it is locally known as J.P. Rizal Avenue and Gen. Segundo Avenue, respectively.[1]
The highway was built in sections beginning in 1928 during the American colonial period.[7] It followed much of the route of the old Manila Railroad line from ManilatoDagupan. It was designated Highway 3 and also Route 3 in early U.S. military records.[8] It also reached south up to Manila through the present-day alignment of Rizal Avenue (Route 3A); the highway's section from CaloocantoValenzuela (formerly Polo) was once part of Rizal Avenue Extension.[2] However, Highway 3 used a different alignment in Valenzuela that exist until today as a mixture of streets in barangay Malanday, in Bulacan from Guiguinto to Calumpit via Pulilan that exist until today as part of Maharlika Highway (Cagayan Valley Road section) and Pulilan Regional Road,[9][10] through the town propers (poblacion) of San Fernando and AngelesinPampanga as a mixture of streets collectively known as the Old Manila North Road, respectively, and in PaniquiinTarlac as a mixture of streets in the town proper collectively known as Paniqui Poblacion Road.[1][10][11][12] New alignments were later built to form the present-day highway. The highway eventually reached the Ilocos provinces in the north and became known as the Manila North Road.[4] Apparently in the 1950s, it reached further towards AparriinCagayan as it took over the section that was previously known as Cagayan–Ilocos Norte Road.[2][13]
On June 17, 1961, the section of the Manila North Road between Caloocan and Urdaneta, alongside the western road that leads to Lingayen, was renamed MacArthur Highway in honor of the Liberator of the Philippines during World War II, General Douglas MacArthur.[5][8]