EXCAVATION activities on all national and city roads in the National Capital Region will be temporarily suspended next month until the first week of January next year due to the onset of the holiday season, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority said yesterday.
A memorandum issued by MMDA Chairperson Romando Artes said the temporary suspension will start at midnight on November 13 and will end at midnight on January 8, 2024.
He said this is due to the expected increase in the volume of vehicles and pedestrians due to the coming holidays.
Covered by the suspension are road re-blocking works, pipe laying, road upgrading and all other excavation works that will cause obstruction or will affect the smooth flow of traffic even in alternative routes.
Artes said exempted are the flagship projects of the government, bridge repair and construction of the Department of Public Works and Highways, flood interceptor catchment projects, asphalt overlay projects without re-blocking works, sidewalk improvement;
Drainage improvement not occupying any part of the roadway, footbridge projects, emergency leak repair or breakage of water line, new water service and electrical connections, road activities without excavation, Meralco relocation and emergency works affecting major projects of the government.
“All concerned agencies are therefore advised to take appropriate measures to ensure the implementation of this Memorandum Circular and that all affected roads will remain passable, clean, safe and serviceable to all types of vehicles and pedestrians during this period,” Artes said.
Any violation of the circular, he added, shall warrant the imposition of fines pursuant to the provisions of MMDA Ordinance No.2, Series of 1991, or the Ordinance Governing Road Diggings, Excavations and Restoration in Metro Manila.
Earlier, Artes said fines for violations of regulations governing road diggings and excavations as well as restoration works in the metropolis will be increased up to P50,000.
NUMBER CODING
Scrapping the window hours in the Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program (UVVRP), or the number coding scheme, would result in 20 percent lesser vehicular volume in the metropolis, Metro Manila Council (MMC) president and San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora said yesterday.
The MMC, whose members are the 17 Metro mayors, is the policy-making body of the MMDA that is implementing the UVVRP to reduce traffic in the metropolis.
“If it is decided that this should become effective, then we will see up to 20 percent reduction in traffic volume in the metropolis, especially in major thoroughfares in Metro Manila,” Zamora told CNN Philippines.
The 20 percent reduction is equivalent to a decrease of around 800 cars along Epifanio delos Santos Avenue and 400 along C-5 at any given time.
Asked about an MMC resolution published last Saturday showing the number coding scheme would be implemented from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. with no window hours, Zamora said it has yet to take effect.
“To clarify, last month the MMC had a meeting and during the meeting, we passed a resolution that there will be no window hours in circumferential roads and radial roads in Metro Manila. However, for this to be effective, there should be publication in two newspapers of wide circulation and submission to the National Administrative Register at the UP Law Center. So, it is not yet effective,” Zamora said.
“Right now, the window hours stay. The MMDA, the MMC, is still observing the traffic situation,” he added.
The 12-hour number coding scheme, or the scheme without window hours, was suspended in March 2020 when the government placed the country under total lockdown to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
Number coding was restored in June 2020 but authorities exempted from its coverage authorized persons like health care workers, TNVS workers, and media practitioners.
The scheme was again adjusted in August last year, being implemented from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Artes earlier clarified that the current coding scheme from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. is still in effect from Mondays to Fridays, except for weekends and holidays.
“We will assess first the situation of Metro Manila roads from November 6 to 12, after the return of vacationers from the provinces for the Undas break,” Artes said.
Exempted from the UVVRP are public utility vehicles, including tricycles, transport network vehicle services, motorcycles, garbage trucks, fuel trucks, marked government vehicles, fire trucks, ambulances, marked media vehicles, and motor vehicles carrying essential and or perishable goods.