The Department of Public Works and Highways of the Philippines embarked on a PhP 384 billion plan to decongest Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (ESDA), Metro Manila, in 2016, prompted by increasing emphasis on traffic reduction. The ESDA decongestion programme will complement the ongoing projects in the National Capital Region of the country. It is one of the priority projects of the Republic of the Philippines under its public-private partnership (PPP) programme (build-operate-transfer law). In November 2010, the Philippine government launched an aggressive programme for PPPs in order to develop much-needed infrastructure to support the objective of sustained and inclusive economic growth.
The congestion problem
Metro Manila, the National Capital Region of the Philippines, is one of the world’s most populated cities with more than 42,000 inhabitants per square km. However, the ESDA, the 23.8 km long circumferential highway stretching from Taft to Caloocan, has not been extended after the 1960s. As a result, the highway which was originally planned to accommodate 28,800 vehicles per day is now being used by 402,000 vehicles.
The absence of any concrete infrastructure expansion plan has caused the Philippines billions of pesos. To put things in perspective, according to the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the archipelagic country lost PhP 2.4 billion per day. Six years later, the number further increased to PhP 3.5 billion per day due to severe traffic congestion in Metro Manila. Considering the road usage in Metro Manila, about 13.4 million trips per day, the loss to the exchequer is expected to increase to PhP 16 million in the next 17 years.
The plan
While the Philippines has been among the fastest growing economies in Southeast Asia in recent years, public investment, especially on infrastructure, has not kept pace. Huge gaps in infrastructure hinder foreign investment and faster economic growth. The Philippine government is tackling this problem with its “Build, Build, Build” programme, which aims to raise infrastructure investments to 7.4 per cent of gross domestic product by 2022 from 5.1 per cent in 2016. This programme is estimated to require $168 billion in investments for 75 high-impact priority projects nationwide, using an optimal funding mix of government spending, official development assistance and private sector financing. The Philippines government has embarked upon the “EDSA decongestion programme” comprising 23 projects – 13 roads/highways and 10 bridges. Of these, six big-ticket projects are expected to be operationalised in 2020.
The North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) Harbor Link Segment 10 is a 5.58 km, six-lane divided elevated expressway making use of the existing Philippine National Railways (PNR) railroad tracks connecting the McArthur Highway, circumferential road 3 (C3) in Caloocan and Malabon. It will extend and connect to the radial road 10 exit ramp, a 2.6 km long, four-lane elevated ramp which connects Caloocan, Malabon and Valenzuela to Manila. The Malabon exit of the NLEX C3-R10 section along the Dagat-Dagatan Avenue was thrown open for the public on February 21, 2020.
The NLEX Harbor Link R10 Exit Ramp is a 2.6 km dual-lane, elevated tollway with three 1.3 km long exit ramps. It is estimated to entail an investment of PhP 6.55 billion. The project connects the NLEX Segment 10 expressway to the R10 Road and provides a continuation of the Harbor Link. Construction work on the project is currently under way and is expected to be completed by March 2020.
The Mindanao Avenue Extension Segment 2C is a 3.2 km, four-lane divided highway from NLEX to General Luis Avenue, connecting the areas of Bulacan, Valenzuela, North Caloocan and Quezon City. Post completion, it aims to reduce the travel time from the Quirino Highway and General Luis Road from 1 hour and 30 minutes to 20 minutes.
The Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3 is an 18.3 km long elevated expressway from Buendia, Makati City, to the NLEX in Balintawak, Quezon City. It aims to cut travel from Buendia, Makati City, to Balintawak and Quezon City from 2 hours to about 15-20 minutes. The expressway will be 2×3 lanes from Buendia to Sgt. Rivera corner A. Bonifacio, Quezon City; 2×2 lanes from Sgt. Rivera corner A. Bonifacio to NLEX Balintawak, Quezon City; and a 2×3 lanes elevated roadway structure. It will connect to the NLEX-South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) connector road project.
In order to facilitate the timely completion of construction works, the project has been divided into five sections – Buendia, Makati-Quirino Avenue-Nagtahan (3.38 km), Nagtahan-Aurora Blvd./Ramon Magsaysay Avenue (6.19 km), Ramon Magsaysay Avenue-Quezon Avenue (2.71 km), Quezon Avenue-Balintawak, Quezon City (4.46 km) and Balintawak, Quezon City-NLEX footbridge (1.56 km). Estimated to cost PhP 37.43 billion, construction work on the project is expected to be completed by December 2020.
The Fort Bonifacio-Nichols Road (Lawton Avenue) widening (3.3 km) has been undertaken to accommodate more number of vehicles on the stretch. Construction work on the stretch is currently in progress.
The Bonifacio Global City (BGC)-Ortigas Center Link Road Project aims to reduce travel time from Ortigas and BGC business districts to just 12 minutes. It comprises the Sta. Monica-Lawton bridge, a 440 metres long four-lane bridge across the Pasig river, a 565 metre long four-lane viaduct structure traversing Lawton Avenue onwards to the entrance of the BGC.
Other projects
Apart from the above-mentioned projects, five projects for which construction work is slated to commence in 2020 are the 8.5 km long NLEX Harbor Link segment (it aims to cut travel time from Mindanao Avenue to Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City from 45 minutes to 10 minutes), the remaining parts of circumferential road 5 (C5) South Link (to reduce travel time from the R1 expressway to the SLEX and C5), three projects that are a part of the Pasig river and Manggahan floodway bridges construction project (North and South Harbor bridge in Manila; the Palanca-Villegas bridge connecting the Villegas street and Carlos Palanca street in Manila; and East Bank-West Bank Bridge 2 connecting the East Dike Road and West Dike Road in Cainta, Rizal, crossing the Manggahan Floodway).
In sum
Overall, the EDSA decongestion programme is expected to cut travel time between Cubao, Quezon City and Makati and will greatly benefit frequent travellers. Further, the completion of some projects under the programme by the second half of 2020 is expected to reduce congestion on the EDSA by 20-30 per cent.
