MMDA defends bus lane concrete barriers

MANILA, Philippines — An official of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) yesterday denied that the median lane was too narrow for buses, following a series of accidents involving concrete barriers along EDSA.

The median bus lane under the EDSA Busway measures 3.3 meters to 3.5 meters in width, enough for a bus that has a width of two meters, MMDA spokesperson Celine Pialago said.

The concrete barriers measure 0.45 meters at the base and are placed outside the width of the median lane, she added.

“Buses have 1.3 meters to 1.5 meters of space in the lane, which is enough for them if they only follow the speed limit,” Pialago said.

The MMDA has recorded three accidents involving concrete barriers which were hit by speeding buses since the weekend.

Show cause orders have been issued against the drivers of MSJ Tours bus, Joanna Jesh Transport and Roval Transport, for hitting the concrete barriers along EDSA.

In one accident involving MSJ Tour Bus on Monday, the bus hit two concrete barriers while speeding along EDSA near White Plains Avenue, with one concrete barrier skidding across EDSA to the sidewalk due to the impact.

The MMDA reminded drivers that the speed limit along EDSA for buses is at 50 kilometers per hour, and that there should be no reason to speed because of the designated bus lane.

At least 62 accidents were recorded involving the concrete barriers along EDSA since June, according to MMDA traffic czar Bong Nebrija.

2 more mishaps

A sport utility vehicle overturned when it hit five concrete barriers and a traffic sign after its driver avoided a vehicle that cut into its lane as it was about to climb the Ortigas flyover yesterday afternoon, Nebrija said in a dzBB interview.

The driver was not under the influence of alcohol, he added.

Nebrija denied that the concrete barriers that border the median bus lane caused the accident, noting that there are “other underlying causes.”

An Asian utility vehicle also hit a concrete barrier along EDSA at the corner of Scout Borromeo yesterday morning, the MMDA said.