Asean traffic chief to vacationers: Leave metro tonight to avoid gridlock

Edsa / INQUIRER file photo

If you’re planning to go on vacation, better leave Metro Manila Friday night to avoid being inconvenienced with the arrival of delegates for the Association of Southeast Nations (Asean) summit over the weekend.

As early as Saturday, the Asean traffic committee said that it would be closing off the two innermost lanes of Edsa designated as the exclusive lane for delegates who are coming from Clark Freeport in Pampanga province to their hotels in the cities of Makati and Pasay.

Since the Asean summit is expecting around 7,000 delegates, Emmanuel Miro, the Asean traffic management commander, said it would be better for those who’d go on vacation to leave the metro tonight “so that they would not be inconvenienced.”

Miro noted though that the stop-and-go traffic scheme along Edsa would only be implemented when a leader’s convoy would be passing through. He added that depending on the volume of traffic along Edsa, Miro said the Asean exclusive lane may be opened to motorists while the summit is ongoing.

READ: NCRPO to impose brief ‘lockdown’ of NLEX for world leaders’ arrival

Motorists are also advised to take alternate routes as these roads would be affected during the summit:

– Clark complex; Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway and North Luzon Expressway (NLEx), from Clark to Balintawak; Edsa, from Balintawak to Magallanes; Diokno Boulevard, from Entertainment City to Buendia;

– Roxas Boulevard, from Buendia to P. Burgos; Cultural Center of the Philippines complex; Ayala Avenue, from Edsa to Makati Avenue; Makati Avenue, from Ayala to Pasay Road; Pasay Road, from Edsa to Amorsolo;

– Lawton, from 5th Avenue to South Luzon Expressway; 5th Avenue, from Lawton to 30th Avenue; and McKinley, from Edsa to 5th Avenue.

The upcoming Asean summit would be the second time that the Philippines would be hosting a large gathering of world leaders in just two years. In 2015, the country hosted the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Summit in Manila, which also had 21 world leaders in attendance.

At that time, Miro also helmed the Apec Summit’s traffic management plan, which Mr. Duterte was so frustrated about during the 2016 campaign.

The then Davao City mayor said in his campaign speeches that he was “angry” for the public because of the inconveniences the summit brought to them, especially that several roads were closed and hundreds of flights were delayed.

Miro said that during the Apec Summit, around 400 flights were disrupted at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport because of the leaders’ arrivals.

That is why for the Asean Summit, the government decided to have all the leaders land at the Clark International Airport. Miro said that it was also originally planned to have the summit held altogether in Clark, but its venues couldn’t accommodate all of the Asean delegates.

While admitting that the transfer of the delegates from Clark to Pasay posed an additional challenge to them, Miro said that they understood the decision since Mr. Duterte wanted minimal interruption to the public.

So as not to further aggravate the traffic situation, Miro said that mall owners along Edsa also agreed not to hold sales over the weekend. And in anticipation of possible breakdowns, around 100 tow trucks are also on standby along Edsa and NLEx. /jpv