MMDA to close Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge starting Sunday

“At 8 a.m. on Sunday, the Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic.” (File Photo: Jojo Garcia/Facebook)

MANILA — The Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge connecting Makati City to Mandaluyong City will be closed on Sunday, September 23, an official of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said Thursday.

The Department of Public Works and Highways will start the demolition of the bridge to pave the way for its replacement, a new four lane bridge spanning more than 500 meters for a period of 30 months.

“At 8 a.m. on Sunday, the Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic,” MMDA general manager Jojo Garcia told a press briefing.

“From two lanes, the replacement bridge will have four lanes,” he added.

The MMDA estimates that around 100,000 vehicles traveling between Makati and Mandaluyong will be diverted to the Guadalupe Bridge, which would further worsen traffic congestion on Epifanio delos Santos Avenue (Edsa).

The agency will be conducting clearing operations and issue traffic citation tickets to owners of illegally parked vehicles on alternate routes.

“Please bear with us. This is just one project under the government’s effort to address traffic in Metro Manila,” Garcia said.

It is one of the two bridge projects on the Pasig River — the other being the Binondo-Intramuros span in Manila — that would be funded by China based on development assistance agreements with the Duterte administration.