The bridges

That Estrella-Pantaleon bridge is an important link across the Pasig River. As many as 100,000 cars traverse it daily. Without it, the traffic on the EDSA-Guadalupe bridge would be worse.

According to MMDA, there are no alternative routes except EDSA-Guadalupe. However, the EDSA-Guadalupe bridge is also scheduled for rehabilitation in January next year. Maybe this is how Davao wants to punish Imperial Manila. After all, sinabi niya: wala akong paki alam sa EDSA traffic.

I was helping out with Rockwell in its early days and I recall that we offered to build a four lane bridge where the two lane bridge now is. The DPWH was cool to the offer. Then, DPWH built that two way bridge with Belgian ODA funds.

Makes sense because with our proposal, we handle the funds. With ODA, they handle it.

Come to think of it, Between Rockwell and Century Properties, government could have asked both property developers to underwrite a decent looking bridge that would benefit their upscale developments on either side of the river. Chinese aid could have been used elsewhere.

As it happens, the new four lane Chinese bridge will not make life easier in this route. The Mandaluyong end remains a mess.

Actually, if things were to be done right, the priority should be fixing the Mandaluyong roads that take in traffic to and from the bridge. Otherwise, a four lane bridge would be useless. The traffic gridlock would be as bad if not worse.

The next point is, why demolish a good bridge that serves a hundred thousand cars daily? Bad as the traffic in that route is, some people think it is better than EDSA. I think otherwise but that’s because I am usually bound for Pasig or Southern Quezon City. Those going to San Juan and Mandaluyong or New Manila find that bridge indispensable.

I am not saying we reject the Chinese offer to build a better bridge there for free. But DPWH should have found a way to build the new bridge close by without demolishing the existing bridge first.

Since traffic management is its responsibility, MMDA should have insisted on this strategy. MMDA capitulated too fast and said yes to a spur of the moment idea from DPWH.

Spur of the moment? Yes... there had been no talk of demolishing that bridge to build a new one until they closed it. Normally, DPWH feels the public pulse as it did in Santa Monica. Cito Beltran and his neighbors may not like that bridge connecting BGC to Pasig via Barangay Kapitolyo. But at least there was warning.

That Chinatown bridge is also turning out to be a bridge the community hates. The Chinatown folks don’t see a need for it. And folks on either banks of the Pasig River worry about the new bridge aggravating traffic and destroying heritage buildings. China gets no goodwill here.

DPWH is probably not in total command of the projects but just taking orders from the Chinese donors. The attitude of DPWH on these projects seems to be, beggars can’t be choosers. The Chinese, on the other hand, think they can ignore the public and do what they want... as in China.

Sure we want infrastructure. Sure we need more bridges across the Pasig River. But important details on implementation should be made public long before project start.

Of course there is an outcry. Commuting in Metro Manila is tough enough. And while suffering for two and a half years for a better bridge to get constructed sounds reasonable, people are mad because they were not properly consulted. Proper consultation would have brought up problems like impact on traffic management.

That’s the problem with DPWH too. They routinely close bridges as if people don’t matter. Take the case of Otis bridge, also used by a lot of commuters. DPWH failed to maintain it properly until it collapsed and has to be totally closed down. 

Going back to the Estrella-Pantaleon bridge, people are saying that the new one should be built close by the old one without demolishing it in the meantime. They did that in EDSA Guadalupe when they added more lanes.

Maybe the Chinese want to deliver a really nice looking bridge and don’t want that eyesore of a two lane bridge. I agree. The Vietnamese built a really eye catching bridge in Hanoi. It would be nice to have one like it.

But why did the Chinese spring a surprise on closing that bridge? Simple enough. They are preparing for the visit of Xi Jinping this November. I imagine they want to show that three bridges promised by the Chinese leader have started construction. They don’t care what thousands of affected motorists feel. Even at home, ordinary people’s views don’t count.

Mark Villar had been promising the construction of ten bridges across the Pasig River during Duterte’s term. But he has not given us any specifics. Maybe there are better alternative locations than two of the priority sites they decided on. I suspect Mark is bluffing on the ten bridges and these are the only three he hopes to deliver.

So the story ends for now, with the commuters getting a reprieve until after Christmas. The official announcement said the Estrella-Pantaleon bridge is being reopened to accommodate Christmas traffic. I think they are buying time to tweak their plans after the very negative public reaction.

They, DPWH and the Chinese, should use the time to better strategize their plans. Right now, they don’t even know where to have a staging area for their heavy equipment. JP Rizal St will be useless too while they are working on the new bridge.

Whatever they do, I hope these bridges will be sturdier than some bridges the Chinese constructed in Kenya that collapsed shortly after the Kenyan president inspected it. https://qz.com/africa/1015554/a-chinese-built-bridge-collapsed-in-kenya-two-weeks-after-it-was-inspected-by-the-president/

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco