Roxas Boulevard to be closed for 3 months – MMDA

MANILA, Philippines — The southbound lane of Roxas Boulevard will be closed to motorists soon for two to three months to give way for rehabilitation works, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) announced yesterday.

The MMDA said the southbound portion of Roxas Boulevard would be shut down to allow the Department of Public Works and Highways (DWPH) to repair a damaged drainage structure in front of the Libertad pumping station in Pasay.

MMDA Chairman Benhur Abalos inspected yesterday the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) in Tondo in preparation for the road closure.

Abalos said he met with officials of the DPWH, Department of Transportation, Philippine Ports Authority and International Container Terminal Services Inc. to discuss viable solutions and find alternate routes for trucks and trailers, which will be affected by the road closure.

“One of the possible solutions that we are looking at is for the shipping containers to be carried on barges and transported from the MICT going to the Cavite Gateway Terminal in Barangay Tanza,” Abalos said.

“We are studying all options to alleviate traffic gridlocks it would generate,” he added.

The MMDA said it has yet to determine if a portion of the southbound direction of Roxas Boulevard fronting HK Sun Plaza would be totally or partially closed to vehicular traffic. 

Abalos appealed for public understanding for the inconvenience the road closure would cause.

“The structural integrity of the damaged drainage is at stake. This is temporary. The construction will take at least three months,” he said.

Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said the Cavite Gateway Terminal would help enable efficient transport of container trucks.

The MMDA said the rehabilitation of the damaged drainage box culvert would require the closure of the southbound portion of Roxas Boulevard. 

At least 1,000 cargo trucks and trailers traverse the southbound lane of the boulevard daily, according to the MMDA.