Will EDSA rebuild be rescheduled in a month? Transport chief says not necessarily

MANILA — Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Vince Dizon said on Monday that the government will be looking at non-conventional methods to achieve President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s order to complete the EDSA Rebuild project in a shorter timeframe.

The initial plan laid down by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) would have lasted two years. But Marcos had that scrapped and now wants it to be done in six months or a maximum of one year, after several groups raised concerns about the prolonged disruption the project will cause.

Although DPWH, DOTr, and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) were given a month to think it over, Dizon said the reconstruction won’t necessarily start in a month.

“Pinapabago na yung buong plan kasi sabi ni Presidente, find a better way para hindi mahirapan ang mga kababayan natin. Kung wala pang better way, wala pang better way,” said Dizon.

“We cannot do this using the conventional way because that will take too long— lane by lane, babakbakin, papalitan, io-overlay. We need to find a better way that is shorter. And obviously, if shorter, it will be cheaper,” he added.

Dizon assured that even if the EDSA rebuilding is on pause, the DOTr will continue to ramp up the capacity of the MRT-3 and EDSA Bus Carousel.

“Regardless of the EDSA rebuild, the President’s instructions have always been clear: make the commuting experience as convenient, as comfortable as possible. And we are always on our toes finding ways to do that— lengthening operating hours, adding more trains, more buses,” he said.

An engineer meanwhile agreed that there are already modern construction methods being used abroad that could help speed up the EDSA overhaul, such as the use of faster setting cement.

“Yung normal na process na ginagamit natin ngayon is 28 days bago mo magamit (yung daan)... May mga technology na ngayon na ginagamit na cement setting, mga chemical na hinahalo mo sa cement, 24 hours lang pwede mo nang gamitin,” said Fernando Guevara, President of GPI Engineers.

ONE-WAY SCHEME ON EDSA?

Guevara also proposed having a one-way scheme on EDSA during the rehabilitation, saying a lane-by-lane method will not work.

“I don’t think pwedeng lane by lane ang construction e. Saan mo lalagay yung mixer mo, mga truck mo? Eh 'di kakain ka pa rin ng isang lane? Mga tatlong lane talaga yung kakainin mo,” he said.

“The only thing we have to do is maximize the utilization ng (other) roads natin. Kung southbound ang EDSA, northbound yung C5… Tapos yung mga Quezon Boulevard, which cuts across C5 and C4, yun ang magiging intermediate roads na pwedeng lagyan ng buses para ma-move yung mga tao nang hindi ginagamit ang EDSA” he added.

But for this to work, Guevara said local government units and the DOTr would also need to work together to significantly increase the number of buses in operation throughout Metro Manila and improve on their predictability.

He believes there should be 4,000 buses running across Metro Manila, with about 57 bus stops.

“Pagka nakita ng mga tao na ganun ang bus, yung iba siguro hindi na magko-kotse yan, park and drive na lang sila. Park sila dito tapos bus na lang sila hanggang opisina,” he said.