U-turns on busy QC road to be relocated

he Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will relocate U-turn slots and make other adjustments along Commonwealth Avenue to ease traffic when construction of the Metro Rail Transit 7 starts. Emil Llavor, MMDA Road Safety Unit head, said workers of the project contractor EEI Corporation have started blocking off several lanes from the center island of Commonwealth near the Technohub area.

The MMDA said the U-turn slot is near the Technohub area to Tandang Sora area.

“The existing location of the U-turn which is near the Technohub area would be excavated for the underground tunnel” said Llavor.

He said motorists and commuters will start to experience heavier traffic when the excavation for the train project reaches North Avenue and Philcoa area.

“We have required the removal of the delineator installed by Road Board through the Department of Public Works and Highways to widen the road,” said Llavor, noting the delineator serves as separators for vehicles.

Loading and unloading areas along Commonwealth would also be fixed. EEI committed to put up their own CCTV cameras as well as assign flagmen to help in traffic management.

Meanwhile, the MMDA fined the private contractor for obstructing traffic along busy Commonwealth Avenue when it parked a large crane used in their construction.

Through a letter, Jojo Garcia, MMDA Assistant General Manager for Planning, said they ordered the private contractor EEI Corporation to pay fine for blocking two lanes of traffic with their large crane early this week near Technohub area.

“The public badly needs the railway but the contractor must follow what we have agreed on the guidelines. They should limit their construction space,” said Garcia.

The contractors are only allowed to occupy two lanes in each direction.

Since the construction begun late last month, motorists passing along Commonwealth Avenue have complained of heavy traffic.

Garcia said the contractor should understand that motorists need to get to their destination and inconvenience brought by the construction of the railway should be minimized.

In 2016, an annual average daily traffic of 272,255 vehicles was recorded along Commonwealth Avenue.

MRT-7 is a 22-kilometer rail transit system with 14 stations that will connect North Avenue in Quezon City to San Jose Del Monte City in Bulacan.

The stations will be on North Avenue; Quezon City Memorial Circle; University Avenue; Tandang Sora; Don Antonio; Batasan; Manggahan; Doña Carmen; Regalado; Mindanao Avenue; Quirino; Sacred Heart; Tala; and San Jose Del Monte.

The project is expected to be finished by the fourth quarter of 2019.