Philippines secures $123 million ADB loan for EDSA walkways

MANILA, Philippines — Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) is funding the construction of elevated walkways for pedestrians on EDSA, Metro Manila’s busiest thoroughfare.

In a statement early Monday, ADB said its Board had approved lending $123 million to the EDSA Greenways Project. The loan interest rate as well as payment period were not immediately available. ADB has not responded to request for comment.

The project involved building a 5-kilometer covered walkways for each of the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) stations in Balintawak, Cubao, Guadalupe and Taft Avenue, all stationed along the 23.8-kilometer EDSA. 

Each structure per station will be 5-meter wise with elevators and monitoring systems for the elderly and pregnant women. Contracts to build the project are expected to be awarded on the first half of 2021.

“This project will encourage more Filipinos to switch from private vehicles to public transport," sadi Shuji Kimura, the lender’s senior transport specialist for Southeast Asia.

“The project, to be built with cutting-edge technology for cantilever overhead walkways, will provide safe, inclusive, and equitable access for commuters while lowering CO2 emissions,” Kimura said in a statement.

The EDSA Greenways Project is part of a bigger Metro Manila Transport Project that started in 2017 and aimed to build a permanent fix to Manila’s infamous traffic that, after some coronavirus lockdowns were lifted, had since returned. Before the pandemic struck, annual average daily traffic on EDSA reached 405,882 vehicles last year, up 6% year-on-year.

The project is not expected to deliver results and convenience quickly, although ADB said project construction is not expected to add to existing traffic woes along EDSA.

The Duterte administration gave its final approval to the project last January. Apart from $123 million from ADB, the project will also be supported by a separate $15 million loan from the ASEAN Catalytic Green Finance Facility, also administered by the multilateral lender.

Beyond infrastructure development, ADB has become the Philippines’ biggest lender for pandemic response. As of November 23, the latest tally available, ADB has granted $3.93 billion in loans and grants to the Philippines, covering funds for cash subsidies to the poor, disaster risk mitigation and response, as well as support to agriculture.

That amount was equivalent to 37% of the $10.61 billion in foreign loans, grants and proceeds from government securities raised to address the health crisis.