Andrews Avenue

Andrews Avenue
Nichols Road
Andrews Avenue, looking west near Newport City with the elevated NAIA Expressway
Route information
Maintained by Department of Public Works and Highways - South Manila District Engineering Office
Length	4.3 km (2.7 mi)
Major junctions
West end	N61 (Roxas Boulevard) in Baclaran, Parañaque (as Airport Road)
Major intersections	N193 (Domestic Road) N171 (Aurora Boulevard) N192 (Balagbag Road)
East end	West Service Road at Sales Interchange, Pasay (as Sales Road) [1]
Location
Country	Philippines
Major cities	Parañaque and Pasay
Highway system
Roads in the Philippines Highways Expressways List
← N191 → N193

Andrews Avenue (formerly and still commonly known as Nichols Road) is a major east-west thoroughfare in Metro Manila, Philippines that functions as a metropolitan linkage between Pasay and Taguig. ^[2] It runs underneath the NAIA Expressway almost parallel to Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) to the north, connecting Roxas Boulevard and Domestic Road near Bay City with the South Luzon Expressway near Newport City. It has an arterial extension continuing 3.4 kilometers (2.1 mi) northeast to 5th Avenue and McKinley Road in Bonifacio Global City, known as Lawton Avenue.

Andrews Avenue is also the main feeder to Ninoy Aquino International Airport from the east and west and is the main access road to Newport World Resorts (formerly Resorts World Manila).

Route description

Andrews Avenue follows the old route of Nichols Road in Pasay and is split into three sections.

Sales Road section with the elevated Phase 1 of NAIA Expressway near Villamor Air Base (pictured in 2014), prior to the construction of the Phase 2 of NAIA Expressway

Sales Road

At its eastern terminus, the route begins as Sales Road at the Sales Interchange with the South Luzon Expressway. It is a continuation of Lawton Avenue from Fort Bonifacio via the Sales Bridge and a roundabout. It runs for approximately 900 meters (3,000 ft), heading southwesterly across the Villamor Air Base and Villamor Golf Course toward Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3. This section ends with another roundabout beneath the NAIA Expressway's off-ramp just before the road bends sharply to the west.

Andrews Avenue

The main section of Andrews Avenue is an eight-lane divided arterial that runs along the airport's northern perimeter. From the roundabout across from the Philippine Air Force Aerospace Museum, the avenue continues along the southern side of Newport City, a mixed-use development facing the NAIA Terminal 3. It passes the integrated resort complex of Newport World Resorts, the Star Cruises Centre and the Shrine of St. Therese before reaching a large roundabout, which used to have a prominent "egg structure" in the middle until 2015, called Circulo del Mundo. ^[3] Access to the airport terminal is via this roundabout, which also serves as a boundary between Newport and the older barangays of Pasay. From the former Circulo down to the intersection with Domestic Road, the avenue is lined with airline offices, maintenance facilities including those of Philippine Airlines, and a few barangays in between. The Manila Light Rail Transit facilities are located at this intersection before the avenue becomes known as Airport Road.

Airport Road

West of Domestic Road and a small creek called Estero de Tripa de Gallina, the road enters the Baclaran area of Parañaque. The road narrows into a four-lane undivided road carrying one-way westbound traffic. The road meets its western terminus at Roxas Boulevard.

History

Andrews Avenue in Newport City area looking north, prior to the construction of the elevated NAIA Expressway, 2011

The avenue was formerly called Nichols Field Road, ^[4] later shortened to Nichols Road, after the US air base in Pasay, which it served. Nichols Field, in turn, was named after Captain Henry E. Nichols, a US Navy commander of the monitor ship USS Monadnock during the Philippine–American War. ^{[5] [6]} The air base was built in 1912, ^[7] and the road to Fort McKinley (now Fort Bonifacio) and Dewey Boulevard (now Roxas Boulevard) was constructed shortly thereafter. The whole stretch from Dewey to Fort McKinley was named Nichols Road. ^[8]

At present, the Fort Bonifacio/Taguig portion is named Lawton Avenue. In Pasay, the longest portion has been renamed to Andrews Avenue in honor of Colonel Edwin Dudley Buencamino Andrews, the first Filipino post-war Philippine Air Force Commander who perished in the crash of the C-47 transport plane "Lili Marlene" at Mount Makaturing in Lanao on May 18, 1947. ^[9]

From 2004 to 2017, the NAIA Expressway was built above most of the road's Pasay portion. The Circulo del Mundo roundabout built on the avenue was opened to motorists in 2010, featuring its centerpiece, Layag Islas (Islands in Flight), which was constructed from September 2009 to December 2010 but was eventually dismantled in November 2014 due to public backlash over its perceived wastefulness. ^[10]

On April 14, 2024, a sinkhole formed along Sales Road near Villamor Air Base Gate 3, forcing the temporary closure of its two innermost eastbound lanes. Initially a pothole, it expanded to approximately 3 meters (9.8 ft) in width and depth. ^[11] On April 15, Maynilad Water Services reported that the sinkhole likely resulted from soil saturation due to a water leak from its secondary pipeline, with the company investigating potential external damage as the cause. ^[12] SMC Infrastructure also investigated whether the sinkhole and the leak have compromised the integrity of the NAIA Expressway. ^[13] It was finally covered on April 17. ^[14]

Points of interest

• Circulo del Mundo (demolished to make way for NAIA Expressway)
• Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines
• Holiday Inn Express Manila Newport City
• Marriott Hotel Manila
• Maxims Hotel
• Newport Mall
• Newport World Resorts
• Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3
• Philippine Air Force Aerospace Museum
• Philippine Air Force General Hospital
• Sheraton Manila Hotel
• Shrine of St. Therese
• Star Cruises Centre
• Villamor Air Base
• Villamor Golf Course

See also

• Lawton Avenue
• Nichols Field

References

1. "ROAD AND BRIDGE INFORMATION APPLICATION". Department of Public Works and Highways . Retrieved May 24, 2024.
2. "Roads and Transport" (PDF). Pasay City Government. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 22, 2014. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
3. "Ex-MMDA chair Bayani Fernando says "egg structure" across NAIA was built for P50 million, not P390 million". Spot.ph. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
4. Manila American Cemetery and Memorial Archived October 16, 2013, at the Wayback Machine published by American Battle Monuments Commission; accessed October 14, 2013.
5. Nichols Field - Ensconced in Philippine aviation history Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine published by Lufthansa Technik Philippines; accessed October 14, 2013.
6. Captain Henry Nichols died on the USS Monadnock in 1899 published by Ancestry.com; accessed October 14, 2013.
7. Villamor Air Base Archived October 16, 2013, at the Wayback Machine published by the Philippine Air Force; accessed October 14, 2013.
8. Series S501, U.S. Army Map Service, 1954- published by the University of Texas at Austin; accessed October 14, 2013.
9. ""We serve the nation, not individuals"" . Retrieved January 6, 2024.
10. "P50-M 'egg' near Naia 3 gone soon to ease traffic". INQUIRER.net. November 13, 2014. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
11. Ong, Ghio (April 15, 2024). "'Sinkhole' forms along Pasay road". The Philippine Star . Retrieved April 16, 2024.
12. Argosino, Faith (April 15, 2024). "Sinkhole along Sales Road traced to water leak; probe underway". Philippine Daily Inquirer . Retrieved April 16, 2024.
13. Yu, Lance Spencer (April 15, 2024). "Sinkhole near Villamor Air Base causes partial closure of Sales Road in Pasay". Rappler . Retrieved April 16, 2024.
14. "Sales Road deep hole in Pasay repaired, says MMDA". GMA Integrated News. April 17, 2024. Retrieved May 24, 2024.

14°31′25″N121°0′39″E / 14.52361°N 121.01083°E / 14.52361; 121.01083