7 road repairs on EDSA deferred for SONA

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority has postponed seven road repair projects on EDSA originally scheduled this weekend to avoid worsening traffic ahead of President Aquino’s State of the Nation Address at the Batasan Complex in Quezon City on Monday afternoon.

In a statement on Friday, MMDA chair Francis Tolentino said that out of originally nine concrete reblocking projects on Edsa scheduled by the Department of Public Works and Highways from July 19 to 22, only two were allowed to push through by MMDA.

“We didn’t issue permits to the seven [other] reblocking operations this weekend because we would be implementing traffic rerouting for the President’s SONA on Monday, and the road closures along Edsa might have adverse effects on traffic flow,” Tolentino said.

The only reblocking projects on Edsa this weekend will both be in Caloocan City, at the southbound lane near the Monumento Circle, and a stretch of the northbound lane from the Manila Central University hospital to the corner of General Simon Street.

Those stretches will be closed to traffic starting 10 p.m. July 19, Friday, until 5 a.m., July 22, Monday.

The deferred reblocking operations on the Edsa are the southbound lane near the corner of General Santos street in Pasay City; the stretch from JAC Motors to Dario Bridge in Quezon City; from the corner of Boni Avenue to the corner of Mayon Street in Mandaluyong City; and from Guadalupe bridge to Bernardino Street in Makati City.

On the northbound Edsa lane, reblocking was put on hold on the stretch from Home Depot to the Oliveros footbridge in Quezon City; from the corner of Reliance Street to Libertad Street in Mandaluyong City; and from the corner of Buendia Avenue to Guadalupe bridge in Makati city.