The Asian Development Bank said Monday it approved a $123-million (about P5.9 billion) loan to help the government build safe, wide, well-lit, and disaster-resilient elevated walkways for pedestrians along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue.
It said in a statement the EDSA Greenways Project would help the government construct five kilometers of covered walkways, which would be linked to mass transit stations along EDSA, at Balintawak, Cubao, Guadalupe, and Taft stations.
The 5-meter-wide structures, equipped with elevators and monitoring systems, will be easily accessible for pedestrians, including the elderly, pregnant women, young children, and people with disabilities.
“The EDSA Greenways Project is an integral part of the government’s transport strategy to make Metro Manila a better place to live, work, and visit,” ADB’s Southeast Asia transport and communications director Hiroaki Yamaguchi said.
“This project is an important part of our contribution to helping make that vision a reality for Filipinos,” Yamaguchi said.
The project is part of the government’s “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure development program aimed at boosting public spending on infrastructure to attract investments, provide improved connectivity and spur economic growth.
ADB senior transport specialist for Southeast Asia Shuji Kimura said the project would encourage more Filipinos to switch from private vehicles to public transport, which is being strengthened with the North–South Commuter railway, the Metro Manila subway, and the upgraded Light Rail/Metro Rail Transit systems.
“The project, to be built with cutting-edge technology for cantilever overhead walkways, will provide safe, inclusive and equitable access for commuters while lowering CO2 [carbon dioxide] emissions,” Kimura said.
Metro Manila is considered the most congested city in Asia in terms of population, land area and length of road networks, based on ADB’s 2019 Asian Development Outlook.
Annual average daily traffic on EDSA reached 405,882 vehicles in 2019, up by about 6 percent from 383,828 in 2018, according to the Metro Manila Development Authority.
The bank said the project would support Metro Manila’s recovery from the coronavirus disease pandemic. It is expected to create much-needed jobs during the construction period, with P3 billion ($61 million) to be spent on local raw materials.
The civil works contracts for the project are expected to be awarded in the first half of 2021. The project, including improving existing walkways and building new elevated walkways, is expected to cause minimal traffic disruptions.
An international consulting firm was hired to work on the project’s feasibility study with the Department of Transportation, with funding from ADB’s Infrastructure Preparation and Innovation Facility.
The project will also be supported by a $15-million loan from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Catalytic Green Finance Facility which will be administered by ADB.