By 50 percent Income of firms near flyover project down

Tenants of the Banilad Town Center are perhaps among the most affected business establishments by the construction of the Banilad flyover project as the BTC management admitted yesterday that the overall income of shops there has dropped by 50 percent.

Sonny Kokseng, corporate treasurer of the BTC, told The FREEMAN that many clients of BTC have avoided the complex since stringent traffic rules were implemented along Governor Mariano Cuenco Avenue to give way to the construction of the flyover.

And while there is no construction directly in front of BTC, as it is located barely a few meters away from one end of the flyover, Kokseng said the no-left turn policy implemented by the City Traffic Management has turned out to be a hassle on the part of the customers.

Since construction of the flyover started on February 1, Kokseng said the volume of vehicles that enter BTC has decreased by 50 percent.

The BTC management is now asking Citom to restudy the no-left turn policy such that vehicles, especially those coming from Banilad, may directly turn left to BTC in between the hours normally considered as peak hours for traffic.

Normally, traffic takes a peak between 6 a.m. to 8 a.m., 12 p.m. to 1 p.m., and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. However, vehicles, especially those coming from Banilad are not allowed to turn left directly to BTC even in between these times on weekdays because Citom has categorized the whole stretch from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. as peak hours.

The rule, however, does not apply on weekends and during holidays.

Kokseng said they are thankful that Citom has given leeway with the policy but said it would certainly benefit the tenants of the business complex if the whole stretch from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. would not be considered peak hour. – Joeberth M. Ocao/MEEV