Puerto Rico Highway 3 at nearly 100 miles long, is the second longest highway on Puerto Rico. It connects the San Juanneighborhood of Río Piedras to downtown Salinas indirectly around the eastern coast of the island. Highway 3 ranges from a three lane urban avenue in San Juan to a one lane rural road past Fajardo. While other roads connect San Juan, it runs the coastline of Puerto Rico east of San Juan, beginning in Río Piedras near Santurce and goes to Fajardo where it goes south paralleling the coastline to Humacao and Maunabo. It goes up to a mountain-scenic route and goes west to Salinas, where it meets PR-1.
PR-3 begins at an intersection with PR-1 in San Juan as the three lane 65th Infantry Regiment Avenue. Heading east through San Juan, Highway 3 functions as an urban boulevard with both at-grade and grade-separated intersections becoming decidedly suburban in character past the PR-26/66 overpass near downtown Carolina. Recently, PR-66 was opened and it has controlled the high traffic on PR-3.
Río Grande to Fajardo
It is a divided highway to Fajardo, and the only main highway connecting Fajardo to Río Grande. In Fajardo, PR-53 begins and PR-3 becomes a one-lane per direction rural road, and keeps that way for the rest of its length, though there are some minor divided segments in Humacao near Junquito, a very small segment near Patagonia and another segment in Arroyo and Guayama for about nearly 10 kilometers.
Just like PR-22 parallels PR-2 and PR-52 parallels PR-1, PR-53 is the toll highway which parallels PR-3 and they have several exit intersections. Yet, PR-53 has not been completed and PR-3 serves as the main road in the southeastern part of Puerto Rico going from Yabucoa to Guayama, though PR-901 serves as a primary road between Yabucoa and Maunabo.
Municipalities in Puerto Rico
The following are the municipalities through which PR-3 passes:
San Juan
Carolina
Canóvanas
Río Grande
Luquillo
Fajardo
Ceiba
Naguabo
Humacao
Yabucoa
Maunabo
Patillas
Arroyo
Guayama
Salinas
Loíza is the only coastal municipality not served by PR-3 in its length through the east shore until its intersection with PR-1 in Salinas. PR-188 serves as the main artery from the highway to Loiza. The remaining coasts of Puerto Rico are served by PR-1 and PR-2. In Maunabo and south Yabucoa, PR-3 is not the main "at-grade" artery since it goes up in the mountains. PR-901 is the main at grade road in this segment of about 10 kilometers.
Major intersections
Related route
Puerto Rico Highway 3R is a bypass near downtown Humacao, Puerto Rico. This road is part of Nicanor Vázquez Boulevard.
