[2] The development of a major road network in Manila was first conceived in the Metropolitan Thoroughfare Plan of 1945, predicting that the metropolis would expand further to the shorelines of Laguna de Bay.

[2] in the JICA-conducted study, the elevated Expressway Route C-3, was also planned as early as 1993 to traverse above the C-3 alignment from Navotas to Mandaluyong.

[10][11] In 2003, JICA also conducted a study again on the elevated expressway under a planned public-private partnership, with a length of 16.59 kilometers (10.31 mi) (C-3 Expressway has a length of 8.99 kilometers (5.59 mi)),[12] and in 2007, there are plans to extend the Metro Manila Skyway towards the port area as a linkage,[13] 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.

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.

This area of C-3 is well known for its big funeral parlors, such as Arlington and La Funeraria Paz, and SM City Sta.

The Talayan Creek also runs along the road median from Toctocan Street to Quezon Avenue and is notorious for overflowing during the rainy season.