PRESIDENT FERDINAND R. Marcos, Jr. has “approved in principle” a proposal to remove U-turn slots on C5 road along Kalayaan Avenue Interchange to improve the traffic flow in Metro Manila, according to the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA).
At a Palace briefing on Wednesday, MMDA Chairman Romando S. Artes said his agency met with the President on Tuesday to discuss the government’s five-year traffic management plan as well as plans to start the rehabilitation of the Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) by March.
“Well, we first need to study the traffic management plan in the area because we might need to install a stoplight in case, and then, the budgeting for the underpass construction,” he said in a mixed English and Filipino.
The MMDA chief said the five-year Comprehensive Traffic Management Plan includes upgrading traffic regulation and enforcement, developing a traffic management database, upgrading the traffic signal system, and improving intersections and traffic corridors.
He added that the agency was mulling the phase out of the EDSA bus lane to “free up space” in the highway.
“If the passengers can be accommodated at the top, on the train, we don’t see the need to have a bus because it’s exactly the same route. In fact, the train is more advantageous because it has more stops than the bus carousel,” the official said in mixed English and Filipino.
Manila was the 14th most congested city in the world, with an average travel time of 32 minutes, according to the latest edition of the TomTom Traffic Index.
The index assessed cities and metropolitan areas across 62 countries by their congestion and travel times and how many hours commuters stuck in traffic have lost. — John Victor D. Ordoñez