Parañaque City to enforce expanded truck ban starting next week

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Parañaque Mayor Edwin Olivarez announced on Tuesday the start of the implementation of an expanded truck ban in the city next week.

Olivarez made the announcement as the city braced for the closure of the Sucat Interchange supposedly for repairs.

The Interchange was supposed to be closed to motorists starting Aug. 2 for 45 days, but the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and the local government agreed to postpone this “indefinitely” so that “contingency measures and alternative routes to mitigate the effects of the bridge repaircould be made.

Both the MMDA and the local government then said the Department of Public Works and Highways had “failed to notify” them of the planned repairs.

According to the mayor, the truck ban, which was only implemented in secondary roads would cover the city’s “major throughfares” starting Monday.

These include Dr. A. Santos Avenue (Sucat Road), the East and West Service Roads of the South Luzon Expressway, Ninoy Aquino Avenue, Airport Road, and Quirino Avenue.

He said the ban would be in effect from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

A window will be in place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., from Monday to Friday, for trucks to operate.

He said 10-wheeler cargo trucks, trailer trucks, transit mixers and those hauling sand and aggregates, and other heavy payloads, would be covered by the ban.

Only six-wheeler trucks will be exempted from the ban “to allow logistics and cargo forwarding companies to move their cargoes to and from the airports and their warehouses anytime, according to Mayor Olivarez.

“We recognize the important role of truckers in our local economy because there are so many logistics and transport companies operating in Parañaque as a result of our proximity to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport,” he said, adding the reason why the local government has opted for “a selective truck ban” was to “lessen the impact on our businessmen.”

He said members of the city’s truckers’ association have agreed to the plan.

Apart from the expanded truck ban,  Olivarez said all trucks passing on major roads would be allowed to use only the center lanes daily, including Saturdays and Sundays, to prevent “further clogging.”

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