EDSA anniversary gets commuters stranded, causes heavy traffic

MANILA, Philippines - Motorists found themselves locked in slow traffic along EDSA on Wednesday as the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) closed the northbound portion of the highway from Shaw Boulevard in Mandaluyong to Santolan Avenue in Quezon City for the EDSA Revolution ceremonies.

The affected portion of EDSA was closed-off to traffic at 12 a.m. and was only re-opened at 3:29 p.m. The MMDA announced the EDSA closure in an advisory released on Tuesday afternoon.

MMDA Chair Francis Tolentino said a total of 1,104 of the agency’s traffic and clearing operations personnel will be on hand to man traffic along EDSA, and guide motorists traversing the alternate routes and strictly supervise the execution of the traffic management plan that will sustain the unimpeded flow of vehicles.

Aside from the portion from Shaw Boulevard to Santolan, also closed-off to traffic were the following perpendicular roads: Internal Avenue, Garden Way, Julia Vargas, Bank Drive, Guadix, Poveda, Ortigas Avenue, Corinthian Subdivision Gate 2 and White Plains.

Also closed were portions of Ortigas Avenue at Meralco-Ortigas Junction (southbound) and Oritgas Avenue-Connecticut (northbound) and Whiteplains-Katipunan (southbound).

Aside from motorists, the road closures also inconvenienced commuters who were not able to reach their offices in Ortigas on time as buses were diverted to alternative roads.

The MMDA’s Facebook wall was peppered with angry posts from some inconvenienced commuters. Some of those who posted said they had to walk from Shaw Boulevard to Ortigas as buses got stuck in traffic on reaching Shaw Boulevard.

“I had to walk from Edsa Shaw to galleria at 3:30 in the morning,” said one Facebook posted on the MMDA’s wall.

“The next time, consider people working at night! Commuters are stuck no bus ride going North! This is ridiculous! You didnt even notify the public accordingly! So unacceptable!” said another.

In response, the MMDA deployed three 6x6 tucks and a bus to ferry the stranded commuters.

Crisanto Saruca, MMDA Traffic Discipline Office head, said the MMDA shuttled more than 2,000 stranded commuters.