29 Abril 2024, Lunes
more birthdays to come JO GOD-SAVES MONTOJO LOPEZ
welcomes Bagong Bayani Monico Lopez Caranay
supports International Autism Day, April 1-8, 2024
supports DENR Earth Day, Every Day campaign
7-to-4 work sched takes effect May 2
By J.Lo
New work hours for local government offices in Metro Manila will become effective on May 2, said San Juan Mayor and Metro Manila Council (MMC) president Francis Zamora.
Instead of initial target date of April 15, new work hours for local government offices in Metro Manila will become effective on May 2, said Zamora.
Employees of Metro Manila’s 17 local government units (LGUs) will report for work from 7 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon, instead of current 8 in the morning to 5 in the afternoon, according to MMC Resolution 24-08.
He said body believed new work schedule will spare around 112,000 employees of Metro Manila LGUs getting stuck in traffic jams during rush hour, as well as help in decongesting major roads in metropolis.
Zamora assured public that while work in Metro Manila LGUs would end at 4 in the afternoon, skeletal force will remain to attend to transactions until 5 in the afternoon.
For his part, MMDA acting Chairman Romando Artes said adjusted work schedule for LGU employees of Metro Manila will become advantage for them because they will be able to use their vehicles before enforcement of number coding scheme.
At present, number coding policy bans vehicles from traversing major roads on certain days depending on assigned plate numbers is effective from 7. to 10 in the morning . and from 5 in the afternoon to 8 in the evening
Traffic decongestion program in Metro Manila is one of the key strategic infrastructure programs of Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), aimed at easing traffic flow and improving transportation efficiency in metro.
Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan after attending Bagong Pilipinas town hall meeting on traffic concerns convened by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in San Juan, where he also discussed some of infrastructure projects to alleviate bottlenecks and provide alternative routes to ease traffic congestion in Metro Manila.
Bonoan said program focuses on improvement and expansion of national road network by building more by-passes, diversion roads, expressways, flyovers, interchanges and underpasses.
Key highlights of DPWH decongestion plan include expansion and upgrading of transportation infrastructure as well construction of new roads and bridges.
Completion of 18-kilometer Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3 mainline has reduced travel time from Buendia to Balintawak from two hours to 15-20 minutes.
Tomas Claudio-Polytechnic University of the Philippines Sta. Mesa Section is ongoing, and out of target 28 ramps, 22 are completed, three are ongoing and the other three ramps are in planning stage.
Another project that will decongest and bypass EDSA is 7.7-kilometer NLEX-SLEX Connector Road, targeted for completion this year. This elevated expressway mostly running parallel to Philippine National Railways rail track from Caloocan to Plaza Dilao in Manila will reduce travel time from SLEX to NLEX from two hours to 20 minutes.
Project is 95 percent complete and now has three interchanges located in C3 Road/5th Avenue in Caloocan, and España and Magsaysay Boulevard in Manila.
Another project is 32-kilometer Southeast Metro Manila Expressway (C6 Expressway – Phase I) will reduce travel time from Bicutan to Batasan from two hours to 30 minutes.
C5 South Link Expressway will reduce travel time from R-1 Expressway to SLEX/C5 from 40 minutes to 10 minutes.
Merville to C5/SLEX and E. Rodriguez to Merville Sections are operational.
Laguna Lakeshore Road Network Project-Phase I involves the construction of a 51-kilometer road network along Laguna Lakeshore from Calamba to Bicutan, will cater to increasing traffic volume in southern corridor of Metro Manila.
44-kilometer Cavite-Laguna Expressway is expected to reduce travel time from CAVITEX in Kawit to SLEX Mamplasan in Laguna from two hours to 35 minutes.
17.4-kilometer SLEX Mamplasan to Silang-Aguinaldo Interchange is already operational, while remaining sections will be completed next year.
DPWH is also prioritizing construction of new bridges crossing Pasig River and Manggahan Floodway. This will provide alternative linkages between major thoroughfares and increase number of usable roadways that would decongest traffic in EDSA and other major roads in Metro Manila.
Three bridges have been completed , Binondo-Intramuros Bridge, BGC-Ortigas Center Link Road Project and Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge.
Design and build contracts for other three bridges are ongoing, with civil works to start this year.
Civil works for North and South Harbor Bridge and Palanca-Villegas Bridge crossing Pasig River are targeted to start by yearend or early part of next year, while construction of Eastbank-Westbank Bridge 2 crossing Manggahan Floodway is set to commence this September.
One of the landmark projects included in Inter-island Linkage Bridge Program is 32-kilometer Bataan-Cavite Interlink Bridge across Manila Bay, set to be country’s longest bridge once constructed.
Costing P219 billion, it is biggest and single most expensive project of DPWH aims to reduce travel time between Bataan and Cavite from five hours to 45 minutes bypassing Metro Manila.
Transport road and bridge rehabilitation project along EDSA aims to mitigate large economic losses due to traffic in Metro Manila.
Project is currently proposed for inclusion in Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) technical cooperation project for large-scale road and bridge replacement and rehabilitation, including total rehabilitation of EDSA.
Improving structural integrity and seismic resilience of existing bridges remains top priority for government.
Among key projects critical to attaining this objective is rehabilitation and replacement of Guadalupe and Lambingan bridges, under JICA-funded Metro Manila Priority Bridges Seismic Improvement Project, set to commence this year.
This will ensure safety of about 365,000 motorists who traverse EDSA through Guadalupe Bridge, and about 30,257 motorists who pass by Lambingan Bridge every day.
Bonoan said DPWH will also continue assisting MMDA in road clearing and removal of obstructions, as well as promote active transport by building more bike lanes and pedestrian infrastructure in coordination with Department of Transportation.
Seven House members backed Marcos in banning government officials from using sirens and blinkers.
In joint statement, Reps. Migs Nograles (PBA party-list), Jil Bongalon (Ako Bicol party-list), Pammy Zamora (Taguig), Zia Alonto Adiong (Lanao del Sur), Paolo Ortega (La Union), Jay Khonghun (Zambales) and Cheeno Miguel Almario (Davao Oriental) said President’s issuance of Administrative Order 18 is welcome move.
“This administrative order is very laudable, especially since we all know, and we have all not been oblivious to the fact that some of our government officials have indeed been abusing use of these sirens and blinkers,” said Nograles.
Order covers all elected and appointed officials, except those authorized to use devices.
ISKUP! 