THE Metropolitan Manila Development Authority yesterday said it will implement “drastic measures” to address the perennial traffic congestion in the vicinity of De La Salle Greenhills in San Juan City due to erring private and service vehicle owners, including those carrying and fetching students in the area.
MMDA chief Romando Artes said imposing traffic fines may no longer be enough to deter erring motorists.
“Nakikita namin na despite the penalty and the installation of closed-circuit television cameras, sinasakop pa rin ng mga naghahatid at nagsusundo ang halos lahat ng lane. Nakakaistorbo talaga at hindi lang nakakabagal ng daloy ng trapiko kundi nakakabara na (We can see that despite the penalty and the installation of closed-circuit television cameras, those who are fetching their children are still occupying almost all lanes in the area. They are a nuisance to traffic and their vehicles are not only affecting the flow of traffic but blocking the flow),” Artes told reporters in a chance interview after he and San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora inspected the ongoing operation of the “Bayanihan sa Estero” clean-up program at the Lambingan Bridge on the San Juan River.
He said the MMDA is receiving complaints from motorists that just crossing into the other side of EDSA during weekdays takes them more than an hour.
Artes warned that if motorists continued to disregard traffic rules in the area, then the agency would impose drastic measures to resolve the problem.
“We will find drastic measures talaga pag hindi pa sila susunod kasi umaabot ang trapiko hanggang Cainta,” Artes said, as he reiterated his appeal for everyone to obey traffic rules.
But he declined to say what drastic measures the MMDA is mulling to address the problem.
“Dapat mainform talaga ang mga drivers at mga magulang na dapat magkaroon ng disiplina dahil mas marami talaga ang napeperhuwisyo dun sa ginagawang paghaharang sa trapik (The drivers and the parents should be disciplined enough because if they don’t, they are causing traffic problem),” the MMDA chief added.
Artes issued the warning a day after the MMDA wrote to the administration of La Salle Green Hills to address the heavy traffic problem caused by private vehicles and student service cars near the school.
He added that the agency previously held a dialogue with the management of De La Salle and other schools in the area and installed CCTVs for the No Contact Apprehension Policy but said the traffic situation further worsened.
“Hindi ko alam kung dahil ba ito sa they can afford to pay the fine, walang pakialam or hindi alam ng mga parents dahil mga drivers lang nila ang naghahatid sundo (I just don’t know if this is because they can afford to pay the fine, they don’t care, or the parents are unaware because it’s only their drivers who are on the wheels fetching their children),” he added.
He said more than 1,500 traffic violation tickets have been issued in the area from July to August this year alone.
Traffic violations such as loading and unloading in prohibited zones, or obstruction, and disregarding traffic signs carry a P1,000 fine for each offense, according to the agency.
At the same time, Artes appealed anew to the officials of De La Salle Greenhills to “implement stricter internal traffic management measures” to help the agency address the problem.
