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Thursday, March 28, 2024

MMDA to enforce alternate road closure

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THE Metro Manila Development Authority will begin on Sunday to enforce alternate road close scheme on the east and westbound lanes of Marcos Highway in connection with the ongoing construction of the Light Rail Transit-Line 2 East Extension Project.

The move, according to MMDA acting general manager Jose Arturo Garcia Jr., is being done to pave the way for private contractor DMCI Holdings Inc. to place in position a coping beam needed for the construction of Emerald Station, one of the two additional stations that are going to be built.

“The coping beam would require the alternate closure of the westbound and eastbound lanes of the highway,” said Garcia.

First to be closed to vehicular traffic at 11 p.m. of Feb. 25 is the westbound lane of the highway, covering a 50-meter stretch.

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Garcia said a zipper lane or counterflow scheme will be in effect on the eastbound lane to accommodate vehicles going to Quezon City.

Based on agreed MMDA guidelines, the contractors are only allowed to work on the project during night-time, a period when vehicular traffic is light. The scheme would last until October this year.

Garcia said the private contractor is allowed to work according to the agreed schedule: Monday to Thursday, from 11 pm to 4 am; Friday, from 12 midnight to 5 am; Saturday, from 11 pm to 5 am and Sunday, from 11 pm to 4 am. During said periods, either westbound or eastbound lane would be closed.

Other road works for the project include lifting of beam, concreting of coping beam, launching of girder, concreting of deck slab and construction of stairs and conveying system.

Garcia reminded the contractor to coordinate with the MMDA should there be any movement or change in the agreed guidelines.

“We give our 100 percent support to the government’s Build, Build, Build program. We believe that coordination is the key to mitigate the traffic problems that this infrastructure project would cause. Any single movement we need to know, with at least three-day notice,” he said.

DMCI’s flagmen will assist MMDA constables and local traffic enforcers from cities of Pasig and Marikina and Rizal province in managing traffic along the affected areas.

In October last year, the MMDA imposed a traffic rerouting scheme for public utility vehicles using Marcos Highway that effectively eased congestion in the area.

PUVs going to Cainta and Antipolo in Rizal province were prohibited to load and unload passengers in front of two shopping malls along the major thoroughfare, which was identified by the MMDA as a chokepoint area.

Instead, PUVs were directed to enter an access road leading to a mall’s parking area where designated loading and unloading area are located.

The MMDA is closely coordinating with local government units and other stakeholders in the affected localities on what other measures could be done to ease traffic along Marcos Highway, which serves as the main gateway of vehicles coming from eastern Metro Manila as well as from the provinces of Rizal.

The DMCI bagged the contract for the construction of LRT-2 East Extension from the railway’s current end-station in Santolan in Pasig City to Masinag in Cainta, Rizal with a winning bid of P2.27 billion.

Two additional stations will be built in the area: the Emerald station in front of Robinson’s Place Metro East in Cainta, Rizal and the Masinag station at the Masinag Junction in Antipolo City. The contractor has been given 18 months to complete the civil works for the elevated guideway or viaduct.

The government said that the project is expected to cater to an additional 75,000 daily passengers living in densely populated areas of Rizal.

The system is a crucial transportation service that hundreds of thousands of passengers rely on.

Another railway extension project, this time on the Western end, is now in the pipeline after it was approved by the National Economic Development Authority Board. Officially called the LRT-2 West Extension Project, this project will extend the line from its current end-station in Recto up to Pier 4 in Manila.

The 13.8-kilometer Manila Light Rail Transit System Line 2, also known as Megatren, started its operation in 2003. It traverses the cities of Manila, San Juan, Quezon City, Marikina and Pasig.

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