MANILA, Philippines- Motorists are experiencing a nine-kilometer-long traffic jam on the southbound lanes of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX).
Dave Bautista of the NLEX Traffic Control Room said the bumper-to-bumper traffic starts in Valenzuela and goes all the way to Balintawak in Quezon City and the roads leading to Manila.
Bautista said the heavy traffic, which started at 5:00 a.m., forced some commuters to walk to Balintawak just to get to their schools and offices in time.
He said the heavy traffic was triggered by the implementation of the “one truck lane” policy in Manila. What used to be a 15-minute drive from Valenzuela to Balintawak would now take more than an hour because of the heavy traffic, he said.
He said NLex traffic management could not give an estimate as to when the traffic would normalize.
The heavy traffic has prompted netizens to take to their social media accounts to express their frustration over the traffic gridlock.
Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Francis Tolentino, in a radio interview, denied accusations that his department was to blame for the heavy traffic.
Tolentino said the MMDA implemented the one truck-lane policy only on C-5.
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