EDSA rehabilitation

The country’s most traveled highway will finally be rehabilitated starting this week.

- BOO CHANCO

As in the first attempt, questions are again being raised over why this is a priority, given that it will almost certainly worsen traffic.They should probably field all the Dalian trains at MRTS3 to add capacity for commuters and get some cars off the road.

Critics also say that DPWH will likely rip-up EDSA pavements that are still very much usable. There are suspicions that some contractors have already been given advance payments and commissions paid. Pursuing the rehab now will justify any corrupt deals in the past. DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon is new at the agency and is not an engineer. The old timers there are probably just making a fool out of him on the technical issues. Vince came on strong on corruption and created an us-vs-them realignment within the DPWH staff.

So, the mafia at DPWH decided to use Sec. Vince as spokesman and effectively bless the project including its faults. They made him say that the EDSA rehab will just take advantage of the holiday season’s lower-than-usual traffic volume to get the work started.

The EDSA rehab will not really improve traffic flow.

What should be prioritized is the rehabilitation of Guadalupe bridge. Commuters now say a prayer every time they are on the bridge. But the bridge rehab won’t happen until they finish constructing a bypass bridge.

Actually, DPWH neglected to put up several more bridges across the Pasig River. Urban planners have long called for five to six more vehicular bridges and 10+ pedestrian-focused bridges, to ease Metro Manila’s traffic, integrate with ferry systems and support the Pasig River Esplanade.