The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) is mulling alternatives to concrete barriers along Epifanio delos Santos Avenue (Edsa) for the safety of motorists traversing the busy thoroughfare.
In a Laging Handa briefing on Monday, MMDA Officer-in-Charge, General Manager Romando Artes, said the MMDA has reopened the study to replace concrete barriers that separate the Edsa busway from private and other public transport vehicles.
Artes said Edsa is well-lighted and 90 percent of road crashes related to concrete barriers involved drivers who were drunk, fell asleep or were using mobile phones.
“Inaaral po natin iyong paglalagay ng bollard, instead of concrete barriers at lalo na dadagdagan pa po natin siguro iyong mga (We are studying the possibility of using bollards instead of concrete barriers and to increase) safety signs,” Artes said.
To date, he said there are several safety signs and over 2,000 “highway-grade” street lights along Edsa, which stretches from Caloocan City to Pasay City.
He noted that orange plastic barriers would not be suitable replacements due to their light weight and because they are easily displaced.
“Ganundin po kapag nagkaroon ng tubig, medyo lumulutang din po siya at ganundin po kapag mayroong gustong sumingit at pumasok sa lane madali po siyang natatanggal. So, nadi-defeat po iyong purpose ng pagiging exclusive nitong ating (It’s the same when there’s water. It floats a little and it easily gets pushed when someone tries to enter the lane. It defeats the purpose of exclusivity of the) bus lanes,” Artes said.
Whatever alternative is chosen, Artes said it must preserve the exclusivity of the bus lane and increase the safety of motorists.
Since 2020, the MMDA has recorded at least 437 accidents related to concrete barriers along Edsa.
On Friday at about 1:59 a.m., three Philippine Air Force personnel died after their car slammed into one of the concrete barriers near the P. Tuazon tunnel in Barangay Bagong Lipunan ng Crame, Quezon City.
The driver, also a PAF personnel, survived and was found to have a high concentration of alcohol using a breath analyzer test.
Source: Philippines News Agency
