The Metro Manila Development Authority on Wednesday gave the go signal for the rail adjustment works of the Metro Railway Transit Line 3 scheduled this month on a portion of Epifanio delos Santos Avenue near Tramo Street in Pasay City.
Although only minimal impact on traffic is expected, MMDA acting general manager Jose Arturo Garcia said traffic enforcers will be deployed in the area to avoid public inconvenience when the project starts.
He said the rail adjustment works will affect the flow of traffic along the northbound lane of Edsa and Tramo for a month.
“The train rails need to be fixed in preparation for the additional coaches of the MRT 3,” said Garcia, who met with the officials of AsiaPhil, the private contractor of the project, last Monday.
The MRT’s expansion works intend to increase the capacity of the train rails from the existing three to four.
Garcia said the private contractor of the Department of Transportation would occupy 20 to 30 meters of Edsa’s inner lane in Tramo area beside the MRT wall as work area.
“We will try to retain the four to five lanes for private and public utility vehicles,” said Garcia, adding that the contractor vowed not to expand their works beyond the designated area without prior notice.
While the MMDA has given its go signal, Garcia said the private contractor has yet to secure clearance from the Pasay City local government before proceeding with the project.
“This early, we want to advise the public of the project for the MRT under the “Build, Build, Build” program,” said Garcia.
The MRT 3 line serves 13 stations commences at North Avenue and ends at Taft Avenue, serving the cities that Epifanio de los Santos Avenue passes through: Quezon City, Mandaluyong, Makati, and Pasay. It caters more about 400,000 passengers daily.
It started its operation in 1999 as the country’s second rapid transit line in Metro Manila. It forms part of the rail transport infrastructure, including the Manila Light Rail Transit System composed two lines which are the LRT 1 and MRT 2, and the Metro Commuter Line of the Philippine National Railways.