MMDA suspends road reblocking projects

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has suspended road reblocking projects until further notice and asked the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to have their construction works completed by Monday. (Photo: MMDA/Facebook)

MANILA—The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has suspended road reblocking projects until further notice and asked the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to have their construction works completed by Monday.

It has also required all DPWH contractors to submit the schedule of completion of their projects, warning that charges will be filed against them if they fail to comply.

These initiatives came as the MMDA advised motorists to brace for heavy traffic along EDSA southbound due to the unfinished drainage works after the Magallanes interchange.

“As a temporary measure and to make it passable to motorists, we have put steel plates on the area. But this still causes the motorists to slow down, which results in traffic build-up,” MMDA General Manager Thomas Orbos said in a statement.

The DPWH drainage improvement project was granted a permit by the MMDA last year but was temporarily stopped during the moratorium on all road repairs and diggings for the Christmas season.

C&F Construction, the contractor of the project, resumed its works on Thursday morning without prior coordination with MMDA. The agency is contemplating on filing the appropriate charges against C&F Construction.

“If we were informed that they will resume construction, we would have prepared a traffic management plan on the area and at least augment the number of enforcers there,” Orbos pointed out.

The construction along EDSA-Cabrera resulted in heavy traffic on the southbound direction up to Balintawak on Thursday.