Capitol compound open to traffic

THE opening of the Capitol compound as diversion route for vehicles from Escario Street heading to M. Velez Street went on smoothly yesterday.

The use of the Capitol compound will be only up to Dec. 15, and it is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

To ensure smooth traffic flow, blue guards and traffic enforcers were deployed and “No Loading, No Unloading” signs were installed.

Vehicles travelling along Escario Street going to Guadalupe Area have to make a right turn to the Capitol compound passing through the access road between the Palace of Justice and Legislative Building and exiting through the gate leading to M. Velez Street.

Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia and City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) executive director Sylvan Jakosalem signed an agreement last week with engineer Nicomedes Leonor Jr., the city’s district engineer of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), on the use of the Capitol compound as diversion route while DPWH is undertaking a widening project on  Don Gil Garcia Street.

Leonor is confident they will finish widening a substantial portion of the road adjacent to the Capitol compound before Dec. 15. The project, he said, had long been delayed because of  informal settlers on the roadside and road right-of-way issues.

He estimated that at least 75 structures will be affected by the road-widening project.  So far, only  27 of them had already accepted the P17,100 payment for the voluntary removal of their structure though the rest of these settlers had signified their intentions to receive the payment and remove their structures.

To do away with the tedious government process, Leonor said the private contractor undertaking the project volunteered to pay these settlers and DPWH will just  reimburse the amount. /Correspondent Carmel Loise Matus