Christmas 2006 travel advisory -Urdaneta City

[mikey177]

Just a little heads up for our fellow motorists who plans on traveling north for the holidays: at all costs, avoid Urdaneta City!

At present, there are road diggings in three different sections of the highway. First, before you enter the city proper, in front of the Mitsubishi dealership, the northbound lane is currently being dug up in preparation for the laying of concrete over it. You can't go faster than maybe 10 kph in this stretch because of the bumpy ride. The 2 shoutbound lanes have already been cemented, but only one lane is passable, and there are still gaps in-between the cemented portions as well as lots of debris from the construction work.

Secondly, there is canal excavation work being done near the area where the Jolibee and KFC restaurants are, so the highway becomes narrower at this area. A new mall is also being build there which adds to the traffic.

Lastly, there is a big, big hole right in the middle of the main intersection, as seen below:



This is a major headache for folks heading up to Baguio or turning right to Dagupan. Furthermore, the traffic extends up to the bridge after the intersection, which is presenty being widened as well.

I highly doubt if the contractor can finish these projects before the Christmas exodus starts this weekend, so if you want to keep your jolly spirit intact, don't pass by Urdaneta City. But if you really must, do so during an off-peak hour like late at night or early in the morning.

[IIE]

thanks for the message sir, dadaan pa man din kami jan sa saturday. thanks again

[bunge]

so best way pala talaga na magdaan sa Asingan alternate route, which we usually do pag Christmas season papunta at pababa ng Baguio.

[mikey177]

Kung wala sanang diggings ngayon sa Urdaneta, pwede na pagtiyagaan yung traffic, pero as it is, you lose around 30 minutes of travel time plus you gain a lot of aggravation

Yung hukay nga pala sa gitna ng intersection, hindi all-around yung harang nya kaya ingat lang kung sa gabi kayo dadaan --it's very easy to fall into the hole.

[lolo pepe]

going northbound, ano bang bayan ang daanan papuntang asingan? me mga signboards ba sa asingan showing the way to baguio? di ko kasi alam itong alternate route na ito eh.

[jonski]

Saan maganda daan papunta San Fabian kung hindi pwede sa Urdanete? taga Pangasinan ako pero hindi ko kabisado

[addison06]

Kung wala sanang diggings ngayon sa Urdaneta, pwede na pagtiyagaan yung traffic, pero as it is, you lose around 30 minutes of travel time plus you gain a lot of aggravation

Yung hukay nga pala sa gitna ng intersection, hindi all-around yung harang nya kaya ingat lang kung sa gabi kayo dadaan --it's very easy to fall into the hole.

Mikey: any road update in the south Bicol and Samar area. My schedule is Dec. 22 Cebu to manila via samar & bicol. Thanks

[mikey177]

going northbound, ano bang bayan ang daanan papuntang asingan? me mga signboards ba sa asingan showing the way to baguio? di ko kasi alam itong alternate route na ito eh.

From McArthur Highway, you can turn right at Carmen, Pangasinan (the intersection with McDo at the right corner) until you reach Rosales proper. Then it's Rosales -> Sta. Maria -> Asingan -> Binalonan. Paglabas right nyo from Binalonan, nasa McArthur Highway na uli kayo papuntang Baguio. May mga roadsign naman po kaya hindi kayo maliligaw.

Saan maganda daan papunta San Fabian kung hindi pwede sa Urdaneta?

From Tarlac City, pwede na kayo mag-Camiling -> Bayambang -> Malasiqui -> Calasiao -> Dagupan/Mangaldan -> San Fabian.

You can refer to this map posted by diesoline in the Pangasinan represent thread for a better idea of the route.

Mikey: any road update in the south Bicol and Samar area. My schedule is Dec. 22 Cebu to manila via samar & bicol. Thanks

Sorry sir, matagal na po akong hindi nakakarating ng Bicol. I'm only able to give an advisory on the Pangasinan-Tarlac area because I live here

[jerkky]

do you know any alternate route to manaoag? i'll be going to baguio this saturday pero daan muna ako sa manaoag. i'm planning to turn left sa bgy. domingo sa urdaneta (i believe this is before the mitsu dealership) then labas ako sa highway going to dagupan. then right ako towards mc arthur highway pero i'll be turning left naman papunta sa manaoag. then i'll take binalonan na from manaoag papunta baguio.

is this a better route? TIA.

[mikey177]

do you know any alternate route to manaoag? ...

You're route looks okay. There's probably a route to Manaoag via Mapandan, but I'm not familiar with it. I also take the Binalonan route going to Manaoag because the last time we took the route after the main intersection in Urdaneta, we encountered heavy traffic as some bridges were being repaired.

****

As an update, as of this afternoon the big hole in the middle of the intersection has been covered with dirt and rocks already, but vehicles still have to slow down when passing over it as some of the rocks are big.

Also, here is the condition of the area near the Mitsubishi dealership as of 2 p.m.:



The lane with the long line of vehicles is the northbound lane. I regret that I won't be able to give any more updates after this one as I'll be heading to Quezon City tomorrow morning and I won't be back until Saturday.

To everyone traveling up north, have a safe trip