THE Metro Manila Development Authority has started clearing up the service road in Barangay Baclaran in Parañaque City of vendors and illegal terminals of public utility vehicles to further ease traffic along Roxas Boulevard.
“We will clearing four lanes. The key here was the cooperation of stakeholders, our Muslim brothers, the terminal and the vendors. We will remove them and we will be having a new structure where they will be relocated. The City of Parañaque will manage the structure,” said MMDA general manager and acting chairman Thomas Orbos said.
The area of Redemptorist near the Baclaran Church, where a number of Muslim vendors are situated, will be included in the clearing operation.
“We studied this carefully and there should not be [a] terminal in here; but in consideration we will allow them to pick [up] and drop. We will allow loading and unloading but not a terminal,” said Orbos.
Orbos said his agency was also offering jeepney drivers and operators to pick up passengers at the Southwest Interim Terminal located in front of the Coastal Mall [formerly Uniwide Sales Mall] at the corner of Coastal Road near President Diosdado Macapagal Avenue.
“They can use it for free. If they will continue putting up illegal terminal [they would] commit illegal parking, we will tow them regularly,” he said.
“We are not here to abruptly change the whole environment, we understand their needs.”
The move, according to Orbos, came after the agency observed the worsening traffic situation in the area and the place became an accident prone area to pedestrians and motorists.
The agency also noticed that vendors were occupying seven to nine lanes of the service road, giving only one lane to motorists passing through the area.
Orbos said vendors could only occupy three lanes of the service road so they could continue their business operations.
The clearing operation is part of a short term solution to ease traffic in the metropolis pending the approval by both Houses of Congress of the emergency power to be given to President Rodrigo Duterte to solve the worsening problem on road congestion.