Shorter travel time to Baguio

It is now possible to reach Baguio from Manila in less than 5 hours, including two stops.

The bulk of the trip consists of a breeze along three interconnected expressways:

NLEX-SCTEX	164 km Balintawak-Tarlac	P322
TPLEX	70 km Tarlac-Urdaneta	216
Kennon		15
Total	234 km	P553

If you drive at a boring 80 km/h, you should cover the 230-plus-km stretch in under three hours; the legal 100 km/h in about 30 minutes less.

Thankfully, just before the 2016 Holy Week, an integrated NLEX-SCTEX greeted motorists. The Dau exit, where the buildup could take as long as a half hour, is now a thing of the past.

From Urdaneta, it's 34 km on the MacArthur highway until Rosario, La Union. In another 36 km you see the Baguio General Hospital, the first real sign that you are in the Summer Capital.

The expressways cut driving time significantly. At the Urdaneta TPLEX exit, you can see that work is in progress on the final leg to Rosario which will probably be open next year. That means an even shorter traffic time from Balintawak to Kennon.

There are some problems the links can't solve: the standstill around the Baguio plaza and a vehicular version of the Hunger Games at Balintawak.