The Metro Manila Development Authority is set to allow provincial buses to pass through Taft Avenue Extension to further ease traffic on Epifanio de Santos Avenue around the Baclaran district straddling Pasay and Parañaque cities.
The move, according to MMDA supervising officer for operations Edison Nebrija Jr., will prevent unscrupulous individuals from putting up illegal structures—stalls of vendors and illegally parked vehicles such as pedicabs, tricycles and private cars—that cause heavy traffic in the area.
“The Christmas moratorium [for vendors] in Baclaran is over, and we will now resume our road clearing operations to further ease the flow of traffic there. We will put order and there will be no more excuses or abuses just because it’s Christmas,” said Nebrija.
The MMDA is mapping out plans to allow buses to use Taft Avenue from Baclaran to Qurino Avenue in Manila, Nebrija said.
“Those [provincial buses] not allowed to pass through Edsa, can use Taft as an alternate route. We want [buses] to use this road also to prevent vendors from coming back, because we already cleared the area. Because it was used only for foot traffic, vendors keep coming back, and that was the problem,” he explained.
MMDA officials led by assistant general manager for operations Roberto Almadin are set to meet bus operators, mostly those plying the Manila-Cavite route, and other stakeholders before the end of the week to discuss the plan.
An initial proposal would allow buses from Cavite to pass through Taft from EDSA to Quirino Avenue, and back to Airport Road going to their destination in Cavite.
The latest MMDA clearing operation led to the apprehension of 49 illegally parked vehicles and the impounding of 16 others.
MMDA chairman Danilo Lim said the state of congestion in the area has reached critical levels, with motorists and pedestrians finding it nearly impossible to get through.
Lim said the implementation of anti-obstruction campaign is in line with President Rodrigo Duterte’s orders to improve the flow of traffic, prevent accident and maintain public order and discipline.
Last October, some vendors volunteered to demolish their stalls, but hinted they would go back to sell their merchandise in time for the peak buying holiday season.
Others asked the government to allow them sell their goods in the area until December, prompting the MMDA to give them a Christmas moratorium.
The vendors’ illegal occupation of sidewalks have also endangered pedestrians who are forced to walk on the roads, as they try to buy goods in Baclaran or catch a train at the nearby Metro Rail Transit and Light Rail Transit stations.
MMDA Resolution No. 02-28, approved in 2002 during the term of then-chairman Bayani Fernando, authorizes the the agency, the National Police and the LGUs to clear the sidewalks, streets, avenues, alleys, bridges, parks and other public places of all illegal structures and obstructions to effect the smooth flow of traffic in Metro Manila.