President Marcos ordered concerned agencies to provide a comprehensive and holistic approach to fix the country’s worsening traffic system.
In a Palace briefing, Socioeconomic Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the President gave his instructions during the full Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
“We had a very long discussion on the traffic issue and the President gave instruction to everyone to submit their recommendations on how their respective offices will adjust and configure their work environment,” Balisacan said.
“But what the President really wants is a comprehensive, holistic approach to solving the traffic problem – not the piecemeal approach as has been the case all these years,” he added.
Balisacan said Mr. Marcos is looking toward an intermodal transport system and how the system would operate efficiently as a whole.
He, however, said the approach should also help all the other transport systems such as bike lanes, motorcycle lanes, and feeder roads.
Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority gave the Department of Public Works and Highways permission to begin retrofitting the southbound lane of EDSA Kamuning Flyover.
The retrofitting will start on April 25 and will last for 11 months.
MMDA chairman Don Artes assured the public that necessary traffic management will be implemented and the Mabuhay Lanes will be utilized as alternate routes during the repairs.
He said the retrofitting of the Kamuning Flyover is crucial to prevent further damage and ensure it is structurally sound and ready in case of disasters such as earthquakes.
“The re-decking of the flyover cannot be deferred. We assure the public that we will manage the traffic in such a way that the impact of the repair is minimal to the motorists,” Artes said.
The MMDA also announced that the DPWH will conduct road reblocking and repairs along 14 major thoroughfares in the National Capital Region until next week.
“We will only allow DPWH to conduct 24-hour road repairs which they commit to finish on time and implement properly in the same manner as they implemented it during last Holy Week’s road repairs,” Artes said.