AFTER public criticism of the proposal to close a major thoroughfare in Quezon City for 16 days as part of the People Power anniversary celebration, the government changed its plan and said White Plains Avenue will only be closed on the anniversary day itself.
“In line with the celebration of the 30th Edsa People Power Anniversary, the Edsa People Power Commission [EPPC] announced earlier today that White Plains Avenue will be closed ONLY on Feb. 25, [12 a.m.-1 p.m.],” the Metro Mainla Development Authority said in an advisory Thursday.
The sudden change of plan came following numerous complaints from motorists who will be affected by the said closure which covered the westbound lane of White Plains Avenue from Temple Drive to Edsa.
The latest advisory also stated “The previous plan to set up the Experiential Museum along White Plains Avenue was revised. Set up of said museum will instead take place inside Camp Aguinaldo. Northbound lane of Edsa Ortigas to Edsa Santolan will also be closed on Feb. 25 [12 a.m.-1 p.m.].”
MMDA chairman Emerson Carlos said the closure of the westbound lane of White Plains Avenue was to be made to give way to the museum which will feature the event that led to the ouster of the late former President Ferdinand Marcos.
“The museum will be open on Feb. 25 to 26, but it would take time to construct it. Originally, it will be closed on Feb. 9 but we asked consideration since a lot of people and motorists will be affected. So the closure will start on Feb. 14,” he said.
Carlos said the northbound lane of Edsa will be closed from Ortigas Avenue up to Santolan on Feb. 25 for the annual “salubungan,” which is a reenactment of the meeting of ordinary citizens and rebel soldiers who backed the 1986 bloodless revolution.
He also said a zipper lane or counterflow lane will be opened on the southbound portion of Edsa for northbound vehicles.
The government declared this year’s occasion as special non-working holiday apparently to prevent the repeat of last year’s situation where motorists and commuters experienced heavy traffic along Edsa.
PPC is expecting a large number of students coming from south and north of Manila on board buses to participate to walk through the museum. The walkthrough is estimated to last 50 minutes.
Last year, the government didn’t declare the date a holiday and as a result, motorists and commuters experienced heavy traffic because the authorities closed portions of Edsa to give way for the celebration.
Irked motorists blamed the wrong decision of the MMDA to close the roads by putting plastic barriers, especially at the Edsa-Shaw intersection and Santolan area for the traffic mess.