Quezon Avenue underpass gratings stolen – DPWH

MANILA, Philippines - A week after the Araneta-Quezon Avenue underpass was opened to motorists, some of the steel gratings along the interchange have been stolen, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said yesterday.
In a statement, DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson said they have asked the Philippine National Police and community leaders to help protect the underpass against thieves, particularly at night.
“We have monitored (that) steel rail guards, signboard poles and bridge metal markers are often the target of the thieves in the provinces but recently, loss of steel grating is now happening in Metro Manila,” he said.
Singson said the theft of the steel gratings, which cross national roads and serve as water inlets during downpours or floods, and other road structures puts motorists’ lives at risk.
“If this rampant loss of government facilities would continue to plague national roads, this would result in an increase in road accidents,” he said.
When President Aquino graced the opening of the P452-million underpass at the intersection of Quezon and Araneta Avenues, he announced that the DPWH saved nearly P100 million in project cost.
Singson said the gratings stolen from the eastbound lane of the underpass had to be immediately replaced by the DPWH-Quezon City’s Second District engineering office, resulting in the disruption of the flow of traffic in the area. He said their maintenance crew had to act on the problem immediately because the gap in the road left by the gratings could damage vehicles’ tires and shock absorbers.
He noted that in Makati City, a piece of the steel grating, electrical wires and lightbulbs were stolen from the Osmeña Highway flyover crossing Gil Puyat Avenue.