DoTr opens longest bike lane
Our cyclists now have a place on our main roads. This is a big step to change the routine and instill culture, discipline and order in our roads
The establishment of dedicated, safe and quality bike lanes is finally complete as the Department of Transportation (DoTr), together with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), formally inaugurated on Tuesday, 27 July 2021, the Metro Manila Bike Lane Network, the country’s longest bike lane network to date.
The bike lane network in Metro Manila has an overall length of 313 kilometers and cuts through 12 cities: Pasig, Marikina, Quezon City, Caloocan, Manila, San Juan, Mandaluyong, Makati, Pasay, Las Piñas, Parañaque and Taguig. The lanes measure between 1.5 meters to three meters in width depending on the road’s configuration.
The Metro Manila Bike Lane Network forms part of the completed 497 kilometers of bike lanes created in Metro Cebu and in Metro Davao.
“Our cyclists now have a place on our main roads. This is a big step to change the routine and instill culture, discipline and order in our roads,” said Transportation Secretary Art Tugade in his message delivered by DoTr Assistant Secretary Mark Steven Pastor.
In his message, Tugade clarified no orange traffic cones were used as lane separators on the bike lanes as falsely claimed by critics of the project.
He pointed out Metro Manila bike lanes use concrete delineators and flexible rubber bollards to separate the bikers from motor vehicles. The bike lanes also make use of white and green pavement markings using thermoplastic paint, bollards bolted to the ground, bike symbols and signages, solar-powered road studs and bike racks.
Pastor added the bike lanes maximize road space as these can accommodate 1,250 cyclists per hour for every meter of road space.
Meanwhile, the DoTr official shared other parts of Metro Manila will also have their own bike lanes soon.
“For the national government, we still have what are called South NCR bike lanes, which were recently procured by DPWH together with DoTr. It is in Las Piñas, Muntinlupa and Parañaque. Our intention here is that we will connect these three cities with the existing bike lanes, so that they are really interconnected and used by our countrymen, not only for social activities, but also as a form of transportation going to and from work,” Pastor said.
On the other hand, DPWH Secretary Mark Villar said the bike lanes will be of great help to workers and commuters in Metro Manila who took to active transport in going to their workplaces and other destinations amid the pandemic.
The creation of the bike lanes was also lauded by House Transportation Committee chairman and Samar First District Representative Edgar Sarmiento.
Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and the Metro Manila Council expressed their support and commitment to the project as they cited the presence of bike lanes in the National Capital Region as a “game changer.”