MANILA, Philippines – While traffic at EDSA may worsen in the coming weeks as the government undertakes its long-overdue rehabilitation, motorists and pedestrians will soon reap the benefits, Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon assured the public on Wednesday, May 21.
“Ang benepisyo po diyan ay isang EDSA na hindi lubak-lubak, hindi na patse-paste…an EDSA na smooth na na dadaanan natin,” Dizon told reporters.
“At ngayon din po, ang isang magandang naging mungkahi ng advocates, ang EDSA na, hopefully, magkakaroon na ng pedestrian walkway na hindi kamukha ngayon…hindi mo alam kung tatamaan ka ng bus o tatamaan ka ng sasakyan,” he added.
(The benefit there is an EDSA that is not filled with potholes, no longer patched up…an EDSA we can pass through smoothly. Now, one good suggestion from the advocates is for EDSA to have a pedestrian walkway. Not like what we have now…where you don’t know if you’ll get hit by a bus or a vehicle.)
After facing several delays, the government will finally start the rehabilitation of EDSA by June.
Meanwhile, the transport chief said the rehabilitation program will be done lane by lane, one segment at a time. He also clarified that the EDSA bus carousel will still have a dedicated lane.
“Lalabas lang tayo sa next lane palabas so magiging dedicated pa rin ‘yun kasi hindi natin puwedeng i-sakripisyo ang komyuter,” Dizon said.
(We will just exit through the next lane so it will remain a dedicated lane because we cannot sacrifice commuters.)
Dizon said the Department of Transportation, along with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Metropolitcan Manila Development Authority, will be releasing more details on how they plan to rebuild the country’s busiest thoroughfare in the coming week.
He also told the public not to expect that the rehabilitation program will ultimately solve EDSA’s traffic problem.
“Pero tingin ko dapat mawala sa isipan natin na ang EDSA Rebuild ay masusolusyonan ang traffic. Ang ultimate solution sa traffic ay ang mass transportation (But I think we should dismiss expectations that the EDSA Rebuild program will solve our traffic woes. The ultimate solution is mass transportation),” Dizon said, adding that the department is already working on fast-tracking transport projects.
Free Skyway access?
Fully aware of the havoc road closures may bring, the government is working on providing alternative routes to motorists.
Dizon said they have knocked on the doors of Ramon Ang-led San Miguel Corporation — the operator of the Metro Manila Skyway System — to make certain portions of the paid expressway available to the public for free while certain segments of EDSA are under construction.
Dizon said they are still sorting out the details and figuring out how it will compensate the expressway operator.
“Hindi lang naman subsidy ang paraan diyan. Marami pang pwedeng gawin para naman makabawi ang [San Miguel] doon sa mabigat ding revenue loss dahil ang mga motorista hindi rin kailangan magbayad dun sa segment na ma-a-identtify,” he said.
(Subsidizing this will not be the only way. There are more options for San Miguel to recover from the significant revenue loss, especially since motorists won’t have to pay for the segment that will be identified.) – Rappler.com