By Christopher Lloyd T. Caliwan
MANILA, July 28 (PNA) – The Metro Manila Council (MMC), the policy-making body of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), passed a resolution extending for another six months the one truck-lane policy along Circumferential Road – 5 (C-5) and Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City.
MMC resolution extended the traffic scheme implementation from Aug. 1, 2015 to Jan. 31, 2016 for trucks plying the C-5 route.
Under the ‘one truck lane’ policy, trucks with gross weight of more than 4,500 kilos will only be allowed to use C-5’s innermost lane from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily.
Violators will be fined Php 2,000 and the MMDA may recommend the blacklisting of concerned truck firms.
The traffic scheme started September last year.
Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista, chairman of MMC’s Special Traffic Committee, and committee members Marikina City Mayor Del de Guzman, Las Pinas City Vice Mayor Luis Bustamante and Valenzuela City Councilor Lorena Borja signed the resolution last June 30.
The committee approved the resolution as it recognized the success and other positive effects of the traffic scheme being enforced by the MMDA.
Atty. Emerson Carlos, MMDA assistant general manager for operations, said the agency observed the success of the policy especially in terms of the traffic volume in the area and the reduction of vehicular accidents.
Carlos said before the agency implemented the policy, there was an about 27 accidents daily along C-5 Road and Katipunan Avenue.
He added the extension primarily aimed at continuing the reduced number of accidents in the area.
The MMDA also closed the U-turn slots along C-5 Road and Katipunan Avenue except those located under flyovers and replaced them with signalized intersections.
Late last year, the Eastwood City community lauded the traffic adjustments implemented by the MMDA along C5.
Jericho Go, vice president of the Megaworld, said the flow of vehicles going to Eastwood City and nearby Libis area had greatly improved following the reactivation of traffic lights and one-truck lane policy enforced by the MMDA along C5 Road.
He said traveling to Eastwood City from Fort Bonifacio now takes 20 minutes, a journey that usually lasts for at least an hour before the implementation of the new traffic scheme.
“Hats off to Chairman Francis Tolentino for thinking about this scheme and to really love about this guy he never stops creating ideas that can really solve perennial problems of Metro Manila,” said Go.
Go said the implementation of the new scheme had produced immediate results with more motorists reporting that their travel time going to Eastwood City had been reduced by more than half.
MMDA’s traffic scheme has likewise earned the praise of motorists, some commending the agency and expressing their elation on social media over the reduced travel time and lighter traffic going to Eastwood City and Libis. (PNA)