Dry run of Commonwealth Avenue zipper lane resumes Jan. 2

MANILA, Philippines — The dry run of the proposed zipper lane along Commonwealth Avenue, which will give way to the construction of the Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT-7), is set to resume on Saturday, Jan. 2.

This version of the zipper lane would have some variations: Instead of a road diversion plan along the major thoroughfare, a stop-and-go scheme would be adopted, according to Quezon City Assistant City Administrator Alberto Kimpo.

The eastbound lane of Commonwealth Avenue — for vehicles moving towards Batasan and Fairview — would have a stop-and-go scheme.

On the other hand, the counterflow lane for westbound vehicles would be allowed to make a left turn towards University Avenue, or the exit point from the University of the Philippines.

“Tomorrow, a stop-and-go traffic management scheme will be implemented whereby vehicles on Commonwealth Avenue eastbound will be stopped while those on the zipper lane turn left into University Avenue,” Kimpo said.

“This will then be followed by vehicles on Commonwealth Avenue being allowed to proceed while those on the zipper lane are stopped, and so on,” he added.

Vehicles can use other roads — like Katipunan Avenue, Aurora Boulevard, and even minor roads like Maginhawa Street — to move to other adjacent thoroughfares like East Avenue, EDSA, Quezon Avenue, and C-5.

This zipper lane would be open from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

“Instead of crawling through traffic along Commonwealth westbound, entering Elliptical Road, all the way to North Avenue, motorists can use the zipper lane and proceed to C.P. Garcia Avenue via University Avenue, and proceed from there to Katipunan-C5, or Kalayaan Avenue via Maginhawa Street, or East Avenue, or Quezon Avenue,” Kimpo said.

“They can therefore by-pass the heavy traffic on Commonwealth westbound and Elliptica,” he explained.

The dry run is being conducted to gauge which would be the best system to use come Monday, Jan. 4, as people go back to work from the holiday season — especially as traffic at Commonwealth Avenue can build up during the weekday rush hours.

This was deemed necessary after the MRT 7 contractor EEI said that it would extend work on the project until the end of February.

Last Wednesday, Quezon City also tested a different method under which all vehicles were diverted to University Avenue, while cars moving on the eastbound lane had to enter University Avenue and take a U-turn towards the other side of the road, before proceeding back to Commonwealth.

Kimpo said studies of the best possible system was being conducted as ordered by Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte.

“We will compare the results of the dry-run for both schemes: zipper lane with Road Diversion and zipper lane with stop-and-go, and make the appropriate recommendation to the MMDA,” Kimpo said.

“What’s important here is that following the explicit instructions of Mayor Belmonte, we have to get the right scheme in place come Monday morning,” he added.

[atm]