Sumulong Highway stretches from its intersection with A. Tuazon Ave. and A. Bonifacio Ave. in Marikina City, Metro Manila to the intersection with the Taktak Road or M.L. Quezon Ave. in Antipolo City in the Province of Rizal. It serves both as an arterial (for Marikina and Antipolo) and a feeder (with respect to Marcos Highway).

The following photos show the stretch from Marikina to Masinag that shows typical conditions along the highway. These conditions are quite different from those along the stretch from Masinag to Taktak Road in upper Antipolo City.

Sumulong Highway has a total of 4 lanes (2 per direction) but a lack of pavement markings make it difficult to ascertain the center of the road and the space allocation for traffic. This makes travel less safe as motorists assume they are traveling along the correct space on the road.

The asphalt-surfaced road has no lane markings but has very good pavement conditions. There is also significant on-street parking as most establishments along the highway have no adequate off-street parking spaces. The section shown above is right in front of a sabungan or coliseum for cockfights.

There are pedestrian crossings though, near intersections and where there are schools along the highway.

Only the traffic lanes have asphalt overlay, the shoulders have the concrete surface exposed thereby distinguishing them from the traveled way.

The shoulders are used as parking spaces for establishments along the highway as shown in the photo. Such practices are also common along national highways around the country.

Even the barangay hall of Bgy. Mayamot utilizes road space for parking as shown in the left. The Mayamot Barangay Hall is see on the left in the photo. This effectively reduces road capacity leading to traffic slowing down at such sections.

Another pedestrian crossing, this time in front of a public school right after the barangay hall.

Some sections have sidewalks for people to walk along but these are also usually blocked or occupied by stuff from the establishments along the street.

Waiting shed along the highway. I could not say its typical because the more recent ones usually have names or initials of politicians on them. This shed is likely to be old and uses clay tiles for roofing.

There are also tricycles along the road due to the sidestreets and subdivision entrances connecting to the highway. Public utility tricycles are supposed to be prohibited from using national roads but are common in most provincial areas and CBDs where they are the main mode of transport. In this case, tricycles should be prohibited from using the highway as they are already competing with jeepneys, serving larger areas aside from what should be individual subdivisions or residential districts.

There are many auto repair and supply shops along this stretch of Sumulong Highway. Such shops typically have many customers who also park along the highway, often occupying road space and causing congestion.

Approaching the Masinag junction, which is the intersection of Marcos and Sumulong Highways, one sees more commercial establishments on either side, mostly small stores or shops. At the junction is the Masinag Wet Market, which is now in decline after major commercial developments have been constructed in the area including the most recent SM City Masinag.

Steel barriers placed along the center of the highway to discourage jaywalking – some barriers have been moved by pedestrians to create space for illegal (and risky) crossings such as what is seen just downstream in the middle of the photo (notice the person with the red umbrella?).

Barriers forcing all traffic to turn right to Marcos Highway – seen across is the approach of Sumulong Highway from Antipolo

Portions of this section of Sumulong Highway are prone to flooding including the intersection with V.V. Soliven Avenue, which leads to SSS Village and other subdivisions. The more recent floodings were due to the heavy monsoon rains from a couple of weeks ago that effectively isolated residential areas in Marikina and Antipolo as vehicles could not exit the subdivisions to major roads like Sumulong and Marcos Highways. It’s quite interesting to note that the drainage systems along these roads including Sumulong have not been upgraded to be able to accommodate run-off from what is turning to be heavier rains due to climate change. Thus, it may be expected that the same sections will be flooded should there be heavy rains particularly due to  typhoons and other major weather systems affecting Metro Manila and its environs.

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