Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (File photo)
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� The Department of Transportation (DOTr) said a free toll for Skyway Stage 3 and an odd-even scheme will be enforced during the rebuilding of the Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (Edsa).
Transportation Sec. Vince Dizon made the announcement on Monday as he admitted that the rehabilitation will cause heavy traffic, especially for motorists passing through Edsa on a regular basis.
Transportation Sec. Vince Dizon, in a press conference, said the DOTr developed five key interventions to be set in place to mitigate the expected heavy traffic that will be caused by the project.
One of these interventions is making the toll at Skyway Stage 3 free.
鈥淥nly the segment where vehicles that don鈥檛 need to pass through Edsa will be detoured. They will, instead, take the Skyway,鈥� said Dizon.
However, he clarified that the toll will only be waived during the Edsa construction period.
鈥淥nce the peak of the construction begins鈥攎aybe in a month or so, possibly around July or August鈥攚e will start offering free toll on the Skyway,鈥� he noted.
READ: Rehabilitation of Edsa to begin in the middle of June, says Dizon
The other intervention is the implementation of the odd-even scheme along Edsa, which will begin on June 16.
Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chair Don Artes gave the information.
He explained that under the odd-even scheme, vehicles with license plates ending in odd numbers (1,3,5,7,9) will be banned from passing through Edsa on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Conversely, vehicles with even-numbered plates (0,2,4,6,8) will be prohibited on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
No such restrictions will be in place on Sundays.
鈥淲e鈥檙e doing this because, with this scheme, a 40 percent reduction in vehicles on Edsa is expected,鈥� Artes said.
The odd-even scheme will be effective solely along Edsa.
It will first have a dry run鈥攍asting for a week鈥攖o give the public ample time to adjust to the new arrangement.
鈥淲e will call the motorists鈥� attention. We will issue notices to violators but no penalties will be imposed during the first week,鈥� said Artes.
鈥淭his is to ensure that the public is properly informed and given sufficient knowledge, so that no one can say, 鈥淪orry, I didn鈥檛 know,鈥� he emphasized.
The duration of the odd-even scheme will initially be for 24 hours, but the MMDA is looking into the possibility of implementing window hours for the scheme.
鈥淏ut for now, once the Edsa rehabilitation or rebuild begins, the odd-even scheme will initially be implemented 24 hours a day,鈥� said the MMDA chief.
The other interventions so far are as follows:
- Additional 100 units on Edsa Busway
- Additional trains in Metro Rail Transit Line 3 or MRT-3
- Clearing alternate routes of all obstructions
Dizon said more interventions are being planned by the DOTr, as well as its partner agencies, to avoid a 鈥渃armageddon鈥� from happening due to the reconstruction of Edsa.
Public Works Sec. Manuel Bonoan, in the same press conference, said preparatory works are scheduled to begin on June 13.
鈥淢eaning, the digging won鈥檛 start yet. We鈥檒l just be laying out the sections that need to be prepared so that after a week, we can begin the actual excavation,鈥� said Bonoan.