DPWH: More projects to be completed this year

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Public Works and Highways expects the flow of traffic to improve further, not only along EDSA, but throughout Metro Manila with the completion of various projects this year, DPWH Secretary Mark Villar said yesterday.

The China-funded Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge is set for completion by next month, he said, and “will help reduce traffic in EDSA, which has already seen a lot of improvement.”

“The Binondo-Intramuros Bridge is also nearing completion, and of course, we have a lot of other bridges being constructed,” he added.

The DWPH opened the new Sta. Monica-Lawton Bridge, now dubbed Kalayaan Bridge, across Pasig River last week.

Its opening has brought the agency closer to finishing the entire BGC-Ortigas Center Link Road project, which Villar targets to complete by the end of the year.

Once these bridges are finished, Villar said EDSA and C-5 would be relieved of 20 percent and 10 percent of their traffic volume, respectively.

“So very soon, there will be a significant improvement in traffic here in Metro Manila,” he said.

“When we started, it was mentioned that we will put an end to the EDSA traffic. Now, the speed of traffic flow in EDSA has almost doubled and this will further improve because we will be delivering additional bridges in Pasig,” Villar said.