MANILA -- Beginning today, motorists looking for parking space must mind all those pink lines that run on major thoroughfares in the metropolis, including the perennially clogged Epifanio delos Santos Avenue or EDSA.

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority will launch its “Pink Line Project” today, seeking to prevent illegal parking among drivers by clearly separating the sidewalks from the roadways.

The project will cover EDSA, the South Superhighway, Osmeña Highway, Marcos Highway and MacArthur Highway, among other major thoroughfares, MMDA General Manager Robert Nacianceno said.

Under the scheme, three-inch wide pink lines shall run parallel on 5,000 kilometers of roadway in the metropolis.

MMDA Chair Bayani Fernando said about 40 km of pink lines have been painted on EDSA and the South Superhighway.

Nacianceno said the scheme would be implemented on major thoroughfares where pink lines had already been painted. “Once a major thoroughfare has the pink lines, the project will be in effect immediately,” he explained.

Pink lines will also be painted from Baclaran to Monumento, and from Roxas Boulevard to EDSA.

The lines shall serve as a warning to motorists, as well as owners of establishments and residences to stop parking on the sidewalk and road-right-of-ways. Also barred are all structures that obstruct the flow of cars or pedestrians.

Violators run the risk of being fined P1,000 or jailed for not more than six months, as provided for under the National Building Code.

Fernando said the MMDA hopes to recover between 50 and 60 percent of the sidewalks from violators, especially homeowners or businesses that do not have their own garages and opt to park their vehicles on the road.

MMDA Traffic Operations Center Executive Director Angelito Vergel de Dios said signs have been posted every 100 meters of the covered roadway for the implementation of the project.

The project, according to the MMDA, was borne out of observations that car owners who do not have their own garage often park their vehicles on sidewalks, blocking the path of pedestrians.