The Department of Transportation (DOTr), together with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), held a market sounding conference with the private sector for the implementation of the $140-million EDSA Greenways Project-Phase 1 civil works, the largest investment in pedestrian infrastructure.
Last Friday, DOTr led the meeting at the ADB headquarters in Pasig City for the project’s civil works package to address the inquiries of the private sector and ascertain their level of interest.
DOTr undersecretary Timothy John Batan said the pedestrian infrastructure is expected to enhance active transport by connecting the project to mass transit stations.
Batan stressed the execution of the project must be done right from development, design and procurement with the help of the ADB.
“One of the ways for us to make sure that we’re getting this right is by using our infrastructure and innovation from ADB,” he said.
The $140-million EDSA Greenways project is a five-kilometer mass transit walkway along EDSA at Metro Rail Transit line 3 Balintawak, Cubao, Guadalupe and Taft stations.
The project will also focus on achieving travel time savings of at least 45 seconds for each pedestrian, increasing the number of pedestrians, removing conflicts between pedestrians and traffic at grade level, and reducing pedestrian accidents and injuries.
Once completed, the pedestrian infrastructure will be equipped with elevators and monitoring systems, prioritizing accessibility to the elderly, pregnant women, young children and persons with disabilities.
In a related development, DOTr, along with concerned government agencies, is studying the viability of having a motorcycle lane as another measure to solve the traffic problem along EDSA.
Based on the study, around 170,000 motorcycles use EDSA daily, said DOTr Secretary Jaime Bautista.
Bautista said the DOTr had initial discussions with the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority on having a dedicated lane for motorcycles along the major thoroughfare.
With a motorcycle lane in EDSA, the government also aims to address the economic cost of traffic, he added.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency stating that the economic cost of traffic will balloon to P9 billion a day by 2030 from P4.9 billion a day as of 2022.
