Busted traffic lights cause massive traffic jams in Malate, Roxas Blvd

Busted traffic lights caused heavy vehicular traffic along Roxas Boulevard and Malate around noontime yesterday. 

Manila Police District Traffic Enforcement Unit (MPDTEU) Inspector Eduardo Cantong said the traffic build-up along the northbound lane of Roxas Boulevard  stretched from TM Kalaw Avenue to Quirino Avenue.

“We informed the Traffic Engineering Center (TEC) only yesterday  that the traffic light along Kalaw Avenue has been malfunctioning since last week,” said Cantong. 

It appeared that TEC computers was defective  and had trouble controlling the traffic lights in the Malate area. 

“The TEC could not adjust the green lights of the traffic signals. If there is a build-up in the volume of vehicles, they could not extend the time of the green light,” Cantong explained.

To ease the traffic woes in the area, he instructed  field personnel to manually direct the flow of traffic. They have deployed the MPDTEU, traffic aides and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) traffic enforcers at every road intersection.

Last Aug. 14, the MPDTEU also received complaints of traffic gridlock along the northbound direction of Quirino Avenue along Roxas Boulevard, which was caused by a 30-second delay in the “green” traffic light.

SPO3 Jose Cundangan, MPDTEU desk officer, informed the TEC aabout the problem at around 3 p.m. Normally, the traffic lights are green for only 1.5 minutes to two minutes.