MMDA begins preparation for holiday season

Motorists are seen enduring the heavy traffic along Edsa in this file photo taken on November 30, 2021, barely three weeks before Christmas. INQUIRER.net file photo / JONATHAN VICENTE

MANILA, Philippines — The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Wednesday said it has already started preparing for the upcoming holidays.

These plans include a moratorium on road digging projects beginning November 14, adjustment of mall hours and deployment of more traffic enforcers.

MMDA chief Carlo Dimayuga III told this to reporters during a press briefing, where he announced that the agency would implement a moratorium on road digging (including road reblocking) from November 14 to January 2 to minimize traffic congestion during the holiday season, which is a shopping season for most people.

However, this moratorium excludes flagship projects, but Dimayuga assured that these would instead be scheduled apart from each other to avoid traffic.

“If in case there are priority projects, we would just schedule it to make sure that they are distanced from each other so as not to cause heavy traffic,” said Dimayuga.

Adjustment of mall hours

Meanwhile, Dimayuga also announced that the agency has already talked with different mall management regarding the adjustment of operating hours — mall hours during the holidays will be set from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., with mall-wide sales activities not allowed during weekdays.

In terms of deployment, Dimayuga said that more or less 2,000 to 2,600 traffic enforcers would be deployed during the holidays.

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