DPWH to clear sidewalks

Department of Public Works and Highways secretary Rogelio Singson. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/LYN RILLON

The Department of Public Works and Highways will intensify its campaign to clear sidewalks and road shoulders of illegal obstructions, citing a government study that showed more than half of road accident victims were pedestrians and not motorists.

Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson said over the weekend that removing road obstructions and taking back pedestrians’ right-of-way would be among the agency’s priorities in 2013.

“We have to recover the right-of-way for the safety of pedestrians and the public in general,” he said.

The DPWH considers the following obstructions along national roads: Private structures such as buildings and houses; squatter shanties; stores, shops and other commercial establishments; billboards and signages; fences and walls; basketball courts; garbage receptacles; plant boxes; construction materials; parked vehicles; and junk and construction materials on sidewalks, among others.

Speaking at the recent Seminar on Safer Roads by Design held at the DPWH headquarters in Manila, Singson stressed the need to “recover our road right-of-way and remove commercial activities on our easements.” Jerry E. Esplanada