Lawmaker’s solution to traffic: Make EDSA, C-5 one-way

MANILA, Philippines — A Visayas congressman has a “think outside the box” solution to Metro Manila traffic congestion: make Edsa, C-5 and Roxas Boulevard “one-way-all-the-way” highways.

Since traffic in the metropolis is bound to worsen with the increase in vehicles and the administration’s “Build, Build, Build” program, Samar Rep. Edgar Mary Sarmiento said yesterday the Department of Transportation and Metro Manila Development Authority should make EDSA a one-way southbound highway, and C-5 or Circumferential Road 5 and Roxas Boulevard as northbound thoroughfares.

He said motorists with destinations in between or near these one-way roads could crisscross these highways.

He added that a one-way traffic scheme like the one New York City is enforcing could speed up the flow of traffic and lessen losses on the part of the public in terms of man-hours, fuel and opportunity.

Sarmiento, a civil engineer by profession, noted that EDSA, C-5 and Roxas Boulevard all lead to North Luzon Expressway and South Luzon Expressway.

The implementation of the bus rapid transit system would complement this scheme and the existing Metro Rail Transit 3 and Light Rail Transit, he said.

He said the system could be built on one side of EDSA and could be bi-directional.