Caloocan wants LRT station in Bagong Barrio

Caloocan City Mayor Enrico Echiverri yesterday urged barangay officials, businessmen and residents to petition the national government to construct an intermediate station in Bagong Barrio as part of the P6.4-billion Light Rail Transit-Metro Rail Transit (LRT-MRT) loop.

“We need a station in Caloocan and we need it (at the corner of) EDSA (and) Malvar street in Bagong Barrio,” Echiverri said in a recent meeting with officials of the Light Rail Transit Authority.

The LRT loop will connect the LRT Line 1, which runs from Baclaran to Monumento with the MRT Line 3, which starts at EDSA in Pasay City to North Avenue in Quezon City.

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) announced earlier the 5.4-kilometer loop will involve constructing three new stations, one beside the MRT-3 North Avenue end and the other two at Balintawak and Muñoz market in Quezon City.

DOTC officials pegged the cost of a fully functional LRT station to be around P400 million.

Echiverri said many commuters from Bagong Barrio who ride the LRT and MRT also take jeepneys and buses to reach the most accessible station.

“Even with the LRT-MRT link project in operation, our residents would still be commuting to the Monumento station or Balintawak stations, which are the nearest, in order to avail of their services,” the mayor said.

Echiverri said studies conducted by the City Planning and Development Department, showed that the Monumento station, which is the most accessible in the Camanava (Caloocan-Malabon-Navotas-Valenzuela) area, would soon be congested with additional passengers.

The planning office also noted that Bagong Barrio is considered a priority development area for national government projects and zonal improvement programs.

“This means that the area deserves the utmost consideration for any major public transportation project,” City Planning Officer Aurora Ciego said.

Ciego said a train station in the area would create opportunities for Bagong Barrio to improve commercially and economically.

The construction of the new stations is expected to start within this month and LRTA officials expressed confidence that the loop would be fully operational by May 2010, Echiverri said. – Pete Laude