Puerto Rico Highway 503

Route description

The road's northern terminus is at its intersection with Puerto Rico Highway 143 in Utuado's barrio Consejo, about 1/4 mile north of Utuado's borderline with the municipality of Adjuntas. The road runs in a southerly fashion from its northern terminus at Barrio Consejo, Utuado, through barrio Portugués of the municipality of Adjuntas, and then enters the municipality of Ponce, running through barrios Guaraguao, San Patricio, and Tibes. Starting in 2008, the flow of this road through Barrio Tibes was interrupted by the construction of the Rio Portugués river dam. As a result, there is now a permanent 3-mile stretch of this road that no longer exists. The road picks up again at the southern end of the Rio Portugues river dam, continuing in its southerly run through the rest of barrio Tibes and then through barrios Portugués Rural, and Portugués Urbano of the municipality of Ponce, before reaching barrio Sexto (Cantera) in the city of Ponce. The road then follows the course of Calle Mayor Cantera street in Ponce until it comes to its southern terminus at Calle Mayor street's intersection with Calle Isabel, (Calle Isabel is signed as PR-1).

Calle Mayor Cantera (PR-503), en Barrio Sexto, en Ponce, PR, mirando hacia el norte (IMG 3684).jpg|Calle Mayor Cantera, part of PR-503 and near its southern terminus, in Ponce

PR-503 heading northbound in Barrio Portugues in Ponce, PR (IMG 2712).jpg|A stretch of Puerto Rico Highway 503 (PR-503) heading northbound in Barrio Portugués Rural, in Ponce, Puerto Rico

Escena cotidiana en la Carretera PR-503 Sur interseccion con la Carretera PR-505, Bo. San Patricio, Ponce, Puerto Rico, mirando al sureste (DSC01645-2).jpg|PR-503 southbound where PR-505 has its northern terminus, in Barrio San Patricio

Portugués dam

PR-503 used to be a single stretch country road from Ponce to Utuado until the late 2000s when construction of the Portugués Dam changed that. In the mid 2010s a segment of this roadway was obliterated by the construction of the Portugués River reservoir, which now sits between the northern section of the road and the southern segment, disrupting the continuity of the road, but providing two approaches to the Dam and access to it from both the north and the south.

Road renamed

On 12 July 2011, Governor Luis Fortuño signed Law #130-2011 (House Bill 2885) naming this road as the David Medina-Feliciano Highway in honor of the costumbrista painter from Ponce.

History

Prior to its numerical designation, PR-503 was only known as Carretera Tibes. The current numerical designation corresponds to the 1953 Puerto Rico highway renumbering, a process implemented by the Puerto Rico Department of Transportation and Public Works () that increased the insular highway network to connect existing routes with different locations around Puerto Rico.

Major intersections

References

References

1. [https://mapper.acme.com/?ll=18.042236,-66.621781&z=15&t=M&marker0=18.042236,-66.621781,Tibes%20Indigenous%20Ceremonial%20Center ''Acme Map for the Barrio Portugues area.''] ACME Mapper 2.1. ACME Labs. Accessed 3 February 2018.
2. [https://web.archive.org/web/20091122131606/http://www.dtop.gov.pr/ACT/Manual_Especificaciones/ManualDise%C3%B1o_Cap1.pdf ''PRHTA Design Manual: Chapter 1, General Design Criteria.''] Departamento de Transportación y Obras Publicas de Puerto Rico. page 1-2. Accessed 9 May 2019.
3. "PR-503 north".
4. "PR-503 south".
5. (1953). "Ponce, Memoria Núm. 27".
6. [http://www.primerahora.com/yo-soy-ph/ojodelacalle/nota/unaavenidaozonadecombate-1016925/ ''¿Una avenida o zona de combate?''] Primera Hora. 19 June 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
7. [http://www.oslpr.org/download/en/2011/A-0130-2011.pdf ''An ACT to designate PR Road 503, which extends from Ponce to Adjuntas as the David Medina-Feliciano Road.''] H.B. 2885. Oficina de Servicios Legislativos de Puerto Rico. Gobierno de Puerto Rico. Approved 12 July 2011. Published (English version) 30 September 2014. Accessed 8 April 2016.