THE easing of mobility restrictions and the downgrading of COVID-19 status to Alert Level 1 in Metro Manila and 38 other places have put pressure on the nation’s transport infrastructure.
Heavy vehicular traffic has returned to EDSA and other major streets in the metropolis, and the city of Makati has reimposed the number coding to manage the volume of traffic, with other cities expected to follow.
It is in the context of taking on the challenge of helping Filipinos move and work under the new normal conditions that the government, through the Department of Transportation (DOTr) hastened the construction of the North Avenue Common Station in Quezon City. The DOTr announced over the weekend that the Common Station will be completed by the end of this month in line with its efforts to improve the country’s connectivity and mobility.
‘The Common Station will see completion by the end of the month even without closing EDSA to traffic or suspending or realigning the operations of the MRT-3…’
It can be recalled that the feverish work on this facility was done in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it provided direct and indirect livelihood for many people at a time when jobs were scarce.
Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said the completion of the project took more than 15 years since the approval of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Investment Coordination Committee was only done in December 2006. This great delay did not deter the department from pursuing this project in partnership with the private sector, knowing fully well that it will redound to the benefit of the national economy and its effort to recover from the recent public health crisis, which incidentally is still in our midst, albeit in a downgraded intensity.
In a walk-through of the project, the transportation secretary noted that work on the Common Station has progressed a lot since December 2021. The Station Building of Area A is now connected to Area B or the Atrium, which is now 100 percent complete.
He said the 13,700-square meter concourse area would interconnect four major railway lines: LRT-1, MRT-3, MRT-7, and the Metro Manila Subway Project. Actual operations of the station are targeted before July this year. Once operational, it is expected to accommodate almost 500,000 passengers daily.
The Common Station will see completion by the end of the month even without closing EDSA to traffic or suspending or realigning the operations of the MRT-3, showing the way for other agencies on how big-ticket projects of the government or even the private sector should be made.
Filipinos expect similar infrastructure efforts to be pursued by the next administration.
