Bayani takes tour of EDSA

Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Bayani Fernando conducted an ocular inspection of the agency’s traffic schemes being implemented in EDSA.

Fernando’s tour of EDSA with MMDA officials and reporters started from the MMDA office in Orense, Makati and ended at the Cloverleaf in Balintawak, Quezon City.

The trip took just almost half an hour but Fernando admitted that it was because it was a non-rush hour on EDSA.

The ride took place from 11 a.m. to noon. There was very light traffic with only a few hundred vehicles on the road.

Public Utility Bus (PUBs) were generally observed to be following the yellow lane, much to Fernando’s delight.

The MMDA bus cum mobile office ran at an average of 30 kph throughout the trip. Fernando said that for a 20-kilometer stretch of road like EDSA, this was an acceptable speed.

Anything less than that would mean that traffic volume is already extremely heavy.

At the Cloverleaf, Fernando ordered the demolition of a Police Community Precinct and the structures being built around it.

Fernando also said the stores at the Balintawak market that had encroached on what should have been a parking space must be removed as well.

"It’s only in the Philippines that you can see a fighting cock tied in a coop at a major thoroughfare," Fernando noted.

Fernando also noted that the yellow paint for the yellow lane must be uniform. He likewise observed that some of the lane guides for private vehicles to enter secondary roads were not painted correctly.

Fernando said the MMDA would soon close off the Quezon Avenue and EDSA intersection.

Manila-bound vehicles must take the underpass to cross EDSA or turn right to EDSA from Quezon Avenue then make a U-turn under the overpass, Fernando said. – Nikko Dizon