ASEAN lanes removed

Motorists have been advised that traffic routes in Metro Manila are back to normal after the country’s hosting of 31st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit and Related Meetings ended, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority said yesterday.

“We are now back to normal traffic during the Christmas season,” said Emmanuel Miro, head of MMDA Task Force Asean.

Miro said motorists are free to traverse EDSA except for roads in the vicinity of Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex , the main venue of the summit.

Bong Nebrija, MMDA operations supervisor, said orange barriers along EDSA and other roads affected by the ASEAN Summit have been removed following the departure of world leaders who attended the summit.

“The ASEAN lane along Edsa was already terminated,” said Nebrija.

He said traffic is anticipated to be heavy as motorists and vacationers return to work on Thursday morning.

Nebrija said they are focusing their traffic management efforts on entry points of North Luzon and South Luzon Expressways. Priority chokepoints areas are Balintawak, Mindanao Avenue in the north and Magallanes in the south.

“We will try to manage the traffic as much as possible because almost all of the bus terminals are located on Edsa. We have advised terminal operators not unload passengers along Edsa, instead use the secondary roads at their backdoors,” said Nebrija.

(Mark Balmores) AN ENFORCER of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) removes the plastic barriers used for the ASEAN lane along Epifanio delos Santos Avenue (EDSA) and North Avenue in Quezon City. The ASEAN lanes were used by the world leaders who attended the 31st ASEAN Summit and Related Meetings held in the country from November 11 to 14, 2017.