Motorists and commuters should prepare for monstrous traffic jams in Quezon City as the two-year closure of the Tandang Sora flyover began yesterday to make way for the construction of the Tandang Sora station of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) 7.
The four-lane Tandang Sora flyover and intersection along Commonwealth Avenue will be closed for the construction of an elevated guideway and a pocket track for the MRT 7.
“This closure will run straight until 2020.
We need to close these (flyover and intersection) because they will only cause heavier traffic and may hinder the MRT station construction,” Jose Arturo Garcia Jr, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) general manager, said.
Garcia said about 100,000 motorists who traverse Commonwealth Avenue daily would be heavily affected by the closure of the flyover.
EEI Corp, the private contractor responsible for the MRT 7 construction, said the demolition of the Tandang Sora flyover would start on the third week of March.
It is among the three stations targeted by the Department of Transportation to be completed first to allow partial operations.
MMDA Command Centre chief Edison Nebrija said motorists in Fairview, Batasan, Katipunan and Elliptical Road would also be experiencing bumper-to-bumper traffic, especially during rush hours.
Affected motorists will be diverted to a temporary U-turn slot 700 metres away from the Tandang Sora intersection, which would be finished three months after the closures.
In the meantime, Nebrija said affected motorists would be diverted to a temporary U-turn slot around 500 metres away from the Tandang Sora intersection.
Vehicles coming from Katipunan Avenue should turn right on Commonwealth Avenue (Fairview bound) and take the U-turn slot near the Home Depot and then turn right again to Tandang Sora Avenue.
For those coming from Tandang Sora, they should turn right on Commonwealth and take the U-turn slot near Microtel and then turn right again to Katipunan.
The MRT 7 project involves the construction of a 23-kilometre railway system, which will come with 14 stations from North Avenue in Quezon City to the City of San Jose del Monte in Bulacan.
The MMDA also warned of heavy traffic in other parts of Metro Manila as several roads would undergo repairs starting 11pm later yesterday until tomorrow morning.
The warning stemmed from an advisory of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) that the southbound lanes of C-5 Road after Lanuza Avenue and in front of SM Aura would undergo reblocking for the third straight week.
The MMDA advised motorists to avoid the areas flagged by the DPWH and use alternate routes instead, until all affected roads would be fully passable by 5am tomorrow.