Metro Manila, Philippines – The dedicated lane for city buses on Epifanio delos Santos Ave. (EDSA) will stay, Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon said as the government finalizes the overhaul of Metro Manila’s major thoroughfare.
“Gaya ng sinabi ng pangulo, priority ang commuter. Dalawang daang libo ang gumagamit ng EDSA carousel araw-araw,” he said in a chance interview on Thursday, March 27, when asked if the lane will remain limited to buses.[Translation: As the president said, the priority is commuters. Around 200,000 passengers take the EDSA carousel daily.]
Early this month, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said it initially proposed to make the busway a shared lane during the rehabilitation period.
Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan earlier said the government aims to begin renovation works during the Holy Week break in April to take advantage of light traffic.
While traffic management plans are underway, Dizon the road works would have an impact on traffic flow.“Mabigat ang epekto nito pero gagawa tayo paraan para maibsan ito,” he said.[Translation: It will be a burden but we will look for ways to ease the situation.]Dizon said the agencies will release the final plan next week as they are still awaiting inputs from local government units that will be affected by the rehabilitation. Dizon, the DPWH and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority met with Metro Manila mayors on Thursday to discuss the renovation.“Hindi ito iyong nakasanayan na ng kababayan natin na reblocking ng EDSA…This is a complete overhaul of the EDSA from Pasay all the way to Caloocan,” he said. [Translation: This is not an ordinary reblocking of EDSA like we were used to…This is a complete overhaul of the EDSA from Pasay all the way to Caloocan.]“To simply describe it po, tatanggalin ang lahat ng konkreto. Titingnan po namin ang base.. Ire-reconcrete po namin iyan, aayos po namin ang base then aaspaltuhin po namin,” Public Works Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo added.
