MMDA reviews need for U-turn slots

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority will hold consultations with people in a community where U-turn slots are situated before

these are either shut down or relocated, according to MMDA ChairMAN Francis Tolentino.

In an interview last week, Tolentino said that the agency was reviewing the effect of U-turn slots—a traffic scheme implemented years ago by former MMDA ChairMAN Bayani Fernando—and evaluating whether these were still necessary under the current traffic conditions.

He explained that the U-turn slots were created because there was a need for them then although these were not meant to be permanent.

Today, Tolentino will be meeting with homeowners of Xavierville Subdivision and nearby communities, as well as officials of Miriam College and Ateneo de Manila University on the fate of the U-turn slots on Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City.

The consultation marks the start of the MMDA’s Metro Traffic Watch Program where residents of affected communities will be consulted and be given a say on traffic solutions to be implemented in their areas, he said.

Of the 177 U-turn slots around Metro Manila, at least six will immediately be removed, including the ones in front of Quezon Institute in Quezon City and on Marcos Highway, Tolentino said.

As for the majority, these will undergo a five-step evaluation process under the Metro Traffic Watch Program, he added.

First, the MMDA will simulate the traffic in a given area using its software before conducting a field observation. Afterward, the agency will engage the community in a dialogue during which hopefully, a solution will be formulated, Tolentino said.

When the MMDA and the community agree on the proposed solution, the agency will begin disseminating the information within a reasonable period before implementing it.

“There will be a lot of patience involved in this program,” he said. “The people in the community are the real stakeholders in resolving traffic problems.”

While the process might seem to be time-consuming, Tolentino justified the MMDA’s course of action, saying that the residents know their community better than anyone.

He also said that the MMDA wanted to boost its “decision-making process.”

“That way, I guess others will find it hard to oppose the proposal because the ones who crafted it have lived in the area longer than anyone,” Tolentino said. “How can you argue [with] that? We’re letting the people there decide. Why will you let the people not even residing there to decide?”