MMDA launches info service as metro braces for heavier traffic

MANILA, Philippines - The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Friday launched an online information service to keep motorists in Metro Manila updated on the progress of the 15 major infrastructure projects that are expected to generate heavy traffic.

Dubbed the “Metro Manila Roadway Tablet,” motorists and the public can access the online information at www.mmroadway.com.

MMDA Chair Francis Tolentino said the website will contain information on the various projects, two of which, the Skyway 3 project and the NAIA Expressway Phase 2 will start on Monday.

“The site will contain the status of the project, detail the alternate routes to be taken by motorists and will also have a chat board where motorists can post messages or complaints about the project,” said Tolentino.

Tolentino said the website will be updated twice a week by the MMDA  and will also include the number of accidents that happen during the project’s construction period.

Tolentino advised motorists to brace for heavy traffic as the Skyway 3 project starts construction at 10 p.m. on Monday.

Tolentino said 10 posts will be erected from the foot of the Skyway in Gil Puyat Avenue (Buendia) in Makati to San Andres in Manila.

Tolentino said there would be no road closure in the Skyway construction site even as two lanes of Osmeña Highway will be closed to traffic.

“There will be no total closure but will motorists will have to learn how to drive bumper to bumper and shoulder to shoulder,” he said.  

Tolentino said the MMDA expects that the traffic volume in EDSA will increase by 55 percent once the Skyway 3 project starts with the diversion of traffic.