EDSA rehabilitation starts mid-June

THE P8.7-billion rehabilitation of the Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) is set to begin on June 13 and expected to be completed by 2027, the Department of Transportation (DoTr) said on Monday.

- By Ashley Erika O. Jose Reporter

The DoTr outlined plans to address the traffic congestion that is expected to worsen once parts of Metro Manila's busiest highway will be closed for rehabilitation work.

"We will rebuild EDSA. This project by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will rehabilitate the full stretch of EDSA and make it a green and walkable highway. We need to change the entire concrete structure of EDSA," Transportation Secretary Vivencio B. Dizon said at a media briefing on Monday.

The EDSA rebuild project, which will run for two years, will be the highway's first major rehabilitation since 1980. Around 437,000 vehicles use EDSA every day.

Public Works Secretary Manuel M. Bonoan said the project aims to make Metro Manila's longest and most congested highway a more pedestrian and commuter-friendly road.

Preparatory works will begin on the night of June 13, while construction will go full blast a week after, Mr. Bonoan said. This will include laying out the sections as the rehabilitation project is intended to be implemented lane by lane.

"The concept of the rebuild project, our deliverables are to rebuild and reconstruct the entire EDSA. We will change the pavement into a new one, in other words we will flip the entire EDSA and adapt the latest technologies on concrete mix," Mr. Bonoan said.

"We will deploy several contractors simultaneously. Construction will proceed lane by lane." Overall, a total of 200 kilometers of lane covering both northbound and southbound of EDSA will be rehabilitated, Mr. Bonoan said, adding that the south portion will be done first, followed by the northbound section next year.

"I do not think we can finish the southbound portion this year because it is already the middle of the year. We will continue the implementation of southbound and northbound until next year, simultaneously," Mr. Bonoan said.