The development of a major road network in Manila was first conceived in the Metropolitan Thoroughfare Plan of 1945, predicting that the metropolis in the 1940s will expand further to the shorelines of Laguna de Bay. The plan proposed the laying of circumferential roads 1 to 6 and radial roads 1 to 10.^[3]

The route was originally planned to be a complete beltway around the city of Manila, ending in Pasay at the south. However, apparently due to right-of-way issues, the route was not completed between San Juan and Makati. The Metro Manila Skybridge was supposed to be the missing link of the route between G. Araneta Avenue in Quezon City and South Avenue in Makati with several interchanges,^[4][5] but was later cancelled due to the Skyway Stage 3 project occupying the portion of the San Juan River.^[5][6] South Avenue, Ayala Avenue Extension, and Gil Puyat Avenue were later eliminated from the alignment of C-3.^[2]

Another expressway, the elevated Inner Circumferential Expressway, was also planned as early as 1993 to traverse above the C-3 alignment from Navotas to Mandaluyong, but was only realized by the C-3–R-10 spur of NLEX Harbor Link and Skyway Stage 3 constructed and opened more than two decades later.^[7]

C-3 Road edit

C-3 Road is the portion of C-3 from R-10 in Navotas to Baltazar Street, located past the Philippine National Railways railroad crossing and the Caloocan Interchange of the NLEX Harbor Link and Connector projects in Caloocan.

5th Avenue edit

Past Baltazar Street, C-3 becomes 5th Avenue, a six-lane, two-way traffic roadway from Caloocan to A. Bonifacio Avenue in Quezon City. Prior to its expansion, this roadway was a two-lane, one-way traffic roadway eastwards. The expansion aimed to accommodate and connect C-3 Road (east) and C-3 Road (west) to both eastbound and westbound traffic. Being the fifth avenue running east–west from the city's border with Manila in the south, it passes through the areas of Grace Park West, Grace Park East, and Barrio San Jose, as well as the northern boundary of La Loma Cemetery, in Caloocan before entering Quezon City.

Sergeant Rivera Avenue edit

After crossing A. Bonifacio Avenue, C-3 becomes Sgt. Rivera Avenue, a main road in Quezon City with six lanes. Skyway's alignment over C-3 begins at this road. It becomes G. Araneta after turning southwards after its intersection with Santo Domingo Avenue. Oftentimes, the names G. Araneta and Sgt. Rivera are interchangeably used by people in this segment of the C-3.

Gregorio Araneta Avenue edit

C-3 becomes G. Araneta Avenue after turning southwards after its intersection with Santo Domingo Avenue up to its terminus at N. Domingo Street in San Juan. This area of C-3 is well known for its big funeral parlors such as Arlington and La Funeraria Paz, and SM City Sta. Mesa. It is also considered to be a flood-prone area as the lowest area in the C-3 network (the other is the area where it crosses with Aurora Boulevard). The Talayan Creek also runs along the road median from Toctokan Street to Quezon Avenue and is notorious for overflowing during the rainy season.