Ramon Magsaysay Boulevard, also known simply as Magsaysay Boulevard and formerly as Santa Mesa Boulevard, is the principal artery of Santa Mesa in Manila, Philippines. It is a six-lane divided roadway that travels east–west from Gregorio Araneta Avenue near the city's border with Quezon City and San Juan to Lacson Avenue and the Nagtahan Interchange, close to the district of San Miguel. The entire length of the boulevard serves as the district boundary between Sampaloc in the north and Santa Mesa in the south, with the LRTA's Line 2 running along its median. East of Gregorio Araneta, the road continues as Aurora Boulevard, while west of Lacson, it extends as Legarda Street via Legarda Flyover into San Miguel and Quiapo.
The boulevard was named after the seventh president of the Philippines, Ramon Magsaysay. It was formerly called Santa Mesa Boulevard, which in turn was formerly called Calle Santa Mesa.[1]
Magsaysay Boulevard at the Pureza Street intersection
The boulevard traces its origin to an old road named Calle Santa Mesa, which would later be known as Santa Mesa Boulevard, and a short segment leading to Calle Santol (now Santol Street).[1] It also formed part of Highway 53.[2] The road, now known as Old Santa Mesa Street, was part of the original Calle Santa Mesa, up to the San Juan Bridge, wherein what is now the current alignment of Ramon Magsaysay Boulevard was later extended from Santol Street to Quezon City.[3][4] Its present-day section between Nagtahan and Old Santa Mesa Road was also the former right-of-way of tranvia until 1945.[5]
In 1972, the R. Magsaysay Bridge II was built along the boulevard to facilitate the passage of vehicles crossing over the Philippine National Railways tracks. It was later decommissioned in 2022 to make way for the NLEX Connector, which would cross between the boulevard's ground level and the elevated LRTA tracks.[6] The Connector's interchange with the boulevard opened on October 28, 2023.[7]
The construction of the second line of the LRTA system began in 1997, with the boulevard being one of its routes. The segment was later opened to train operations in 2004.[8]
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