InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
MANILA -- The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) is deploying over 900 of its personnel to ensure orderly traffic flow in the vicinity of the Batasang Pambansa complex in Quezon City during President Benigno S. Aquino III's third State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) on Monday.
MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino said the teams of traffic, anti-riot, rescue and even sidewalk-clearing operations personnel will manage both vehicular traffic and rallyists.
Tolentino, who conducted an inspection of the roads leading to the Batasan Complex, said the agency’s Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program (UVVRP) or the “number-coding” scheme will not be lifted on Monday.
Yves Gonzales, head of the MMDA traffic discipline office, said the agency will start placing concrete barriers in the area at past midnight Sunday.
Like in the previous SONAs, Gonzales said the MMDA is in charge of ensuring smooth traffic flow along Commonwealth Ave. and Batasan Road which lead to the House of Representatives, where President Aquino will deliver his SONA before a joint session of Congress.
MMDA has advised motorists and public utility drivers on the alternate routes they can take as certain sections of Commonwealth Ave. will be closed to vehicular traffic on Monday.
Vehicles can take the following alternate routes:
From Commonwealth Ave.-Fairview to EDSA: right turn to Regalado, right turn to Dahlia, left turn to Chestnut, right turn to Old Sauyo Road, left turn to Mindanao Ave., right turn to Congressional and right turn to EDSA.
From EDSA-Congressional, motorists can turn right to Congressional, make left turn to Mindanao Ave., right turn to Old Sauyo Road, left turn to Chestnut, right turn to Dahlia, left turn to Regalado, left turn/right turn to Commonwealth Ave.
The MMDA also advised drivers of public utility vehicles that a counter-flow traffic for at least four lanes per direction on Commonwealth Ave. will be implemented.
Tow trucks and emergency vehicles of the MMDA will also be on standby-alert and ready to respond to any distress calls with the agency’s Metro Base monitoring traffic and personnel deployment.
Earlier, the MMDA personnel underwent a dry-run on anti-riot strategies as part of their SONA deployment.
Tolentino, who is also head of the Presidential Task Force on Transport Strike and Mass Actions (TRASMA), said the drill hoped to reinforce the knowledge of the personnel in dealing with rallyists.
The MMDA is also set to deploy about 200 crowd control and management personnel for the SONA.
Emergency personnel are also on standby, including fire trucks and ambulances.
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