Trucks restricted, U-turns closed Saturday on Katipunan

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Another major thoroughfare in Quezon City will be covered by the one-lane restriction for cargo trucks.

After the measure was introduced on C5 Road on Sept. 1, it will be extended to Katipunan Avenue starting Saturday, according to the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA).

Four U-turn slots on Katipunan, between Aurora flyover and CP Garcia, will be closed starting today, the MMDA also said. Traffic lights will instead be operated near Gate 3 of Ateneo de Manila University and Gate 1 of neighboring Miriam College, according to Engineering Center head Noemie Recio.

MMDA Assistant General Manager Emerson Carlos said the latest “truck discipline lane” aims to reduce traffic congestion along the entire stretch of the avenue from White Plains to Tandang Sora.

Under the policy, trucks plying C5 and Katipunan are allowed to use only the second innermost lane daily (including Sundays and holidays) during the window period of the existing MMDA truck ban, which is from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Additional traffic enforcers will also be deployed to monitor the implementation of the policy, wherein violators face a P2,000 fine and repeat offenders could have their trucking companies blacklisted by the MMDA.

MMDA Chair Francis Tolentino on Sept. 5 clarified that only C5 Road was covered by the restriction at that time. Media reports earlier that day said the MMDA’s one-lane policy was being blamed for the traffic gridlock on the southbound lane of North Luzon Expressway.

The Citizens Infrastructure Integrity Watchdog (Infrawatch), a group monitoring public works spending, earlier questioned the MMDA’s plan to close the U-turn slots on Katipunan, saying it would only restrict the continuous flow of vehicles and result in heavier traffic.’’

“Instead of spending millions to put up traffic lights, the MMDA can just opt for a simple and effective measure like the placement of concrete barriers (on the 100-meter stretch leading to the slots),” Infrawatch executive director Ricardo Ramos said in an interview.