Fix traffic in front of City Hall – Atienza

Finally addressing the blatant traffic violations right in front of the Manila City Hall, Manila Mayor Lito Atienza ordered yesterday the Western Traffic Division (WTD) to increase its presence in the area and strictly enforce traffic rules.

In a statement, Atienza said he called WTD head Superintendent Roberto dela Rosa to resolve the perennial traffic congestion, especially during the rush hours, by dispatching more traffic enforcers to the site.

Worsening the traffic condition in the area is the fact that two streets — Taft Avenue and Padre Burgos — converge in front of the Manila City Hall.

The sheer volume of buses and jeepneys stopping and slowing down to pick up passengers at the choke point have gone unchecked causing vehicles to line up to as far as the intersection of Kalaw street on Taft Avenue and the Maria Orosa street intersection on Padre Burgos.

Based on the traffic scheme the city government will impose, southbound public utility vehicles would only be allowed to load and unload on the left lanes of the waiting shed before descending into the Lagusnilad underpass. On the northbound lane, vehicles would only be allowed to load and unload in front of the Bonifacio shrine after Concepcion street.

Concepcion street would now be a one-way street going east.

Atienza said the traffic snarl had been persistent in the area since the time of former mayor Antonio Villegas in the 1960s. Atienza has been Manila mayor for more than three years.

The City Hall’s volume of pedestrians swelled recently, attracting public utility vehicles, with the construction of a shopping mall behind it.

Meanwhile, the Muntinlupa Business Permit and License Office (BPLO) in connection with the Environment and Sanitation Council (ESC) joined efforts in the cleaning-up drive of all the five public markets in the city.

BPLO head Gary Llamas said they will likewise install standard weighing scales or "timbangan ng bayan" in each public market, namely, Tunasan Flea Market; South Gold Public Market in Barangay Poblacion; South Empire Market in Bayanan; and the Soldier’s Hills Public Market. The Alabang Public Market, the main and biggest market area in the city, already has the said "timbangan ng bayan."

Llamas said the pilot cleaning-up drive will be held at late afternoon of Aug. 31 at the Tunasan Flea Market.

Earlier, Mayor Jaime Fresnedi intensified the information awareness drive of the eco-waste management program of the city government in schools, households, commercial areas and other public places. Fresnedi specifically ordered the BPLO to maintain proper cleanliness in its areas of jurisdictions such as public markets. — Jose Aravilla