Bayani's Kalayaan Fiasco

[jpatricks1]

Bayani's Kalayaan fiasco
By Bernardo V. Lopez

Bayani Fernando, chairman of the Metro Manila Development Authority, is the engineer-wannabe who designed the expensive Kalayaan elevated U-turn that is now being built.
Engineers I interviewed have termed it "Jurassic," "irreversible," and "defying international standards of traffic and safety."
The core problem lies in Bayani's perception that he is infallible; criticisms against him are simply ignored. His bullheadedness is the issue. The Kalayaan project reflects not only a first-class engineering blunder, but also bad governance. The senior transportation engineers I interviewed have been building interchanges for decades.

But first an anecdote before we talk further of Kalayaan. A World Bank mission came to town to review the infrastructure projects it was funding. Bayani asked to join the inspection. The consultant said there was no need. Bullheaded Bayani insisted, wanting to influence the review. So the mission gave in. Standing at an intersection, Bayani told the consultant what he thought should be done. On the spot, he made a sketch and handed it to the consultant, who suggested he pass it on to his designers first and make a formal technical study.

Bayani was so angered that he complained to the head of the mission. When the consultant found out about that, he confronted Bayani and told him to complain directly to him next time.

Infrastructure engineers say that the World Bank consultants today hesitate to give a go-signal to Engineer Bayani's infrastructure projects, many of which he himself designed from cloud nine. One such Bayani design rejected by the World Bank was a dual interchange in the vicinity of SM North.

Time and again, Bayani resorts to vengeance when his ideas are turned down. In Eastwood City, he wanted to build a footbridge. When it was turned down, he closed all the U-turns to make it harder for all to move around. If you are in Eastwood and want to turn left on C-5, you have to go all the way to the Libis underpass to make a U-turn. However, Bayani was forced to open one U-turn because Local Government Secretary Ronnie Puno uses it. There are higher GMA boys than Bayani.

Now, it will be easier to understand Kalayaan. The unfortunate thing about the interchange is - it is irreversible. To undo the blunder and build a proper long-term facility, the entire P600-million (it could be as large as a billion, engineers suggest) facility has to be torn down.

Bullheaded Bayani is also Band-Aid Bayani. The Kalayaan interchange is the epitome of Band-Aid makeshift engineering.

The engineers told me that the maximum speed of traffic depends on the radius of curvature. The sharper the turn, the slower you go. The engineers showed me a table relating speed to curvature. The table gives the maximum curvature of 20 meters for urban facilities, the sharpest turn allowable, where the maximum speed is set at 30 kph.

The Jurassic Kalayaan has a curvature of 10 meters, which is not allowed by international or DPWH standards, because this is not only accident-prone for a heavily used two-lane turn, it also causes more traffic.

In other words, Bayani's P600-million caper will cause rather than prevent traffic. The many 16-wheelers passing through the C-5 Kalayaan interchange, will need two lanes to make the turn, which will also cause more traffic. In basketball, we call it "forcing through."


Bayani's blunder was unfortunately backed up by Malacañang. DPWH Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane was supposed to make a presentation to GMA of a three-level interchange at Kalayaan. Bayani intercepted the ball and made his own presentation before Ebdane could stand up. GMA applauded Bayani's blunder. Ebdane said there was no need to make his own presentation since the boss had made a decision.

Did the DPWH evaluate and approve Kalayaan as required by law? The engineers doubt it. Bad governance, especially from the very top, is the reason for all our woes. Knee-jerk decisions mean disastrous governance.
In that presentation, Bayani said his concept was cheaper. He did not say it was unsafe or would cause more traffic, just cheaper. That was why GMA applauded his Jurassic design.

The Kalayaan design defies all principles of cost-benefit. It simply talks about cost and forgets about benefit. In fact, the Kalayaan interchange has no benefit in terms of traffic flow and safety. Bayani says his design would save P3.6 million a year because there is no need for traffic lights, traffic aides, signage, and other peripheral traffic control factors. Bayani did not know the tenfold savings of P365 million a year for commuters who would be using less gas in a straight rather than curved elevated facility.

The engineers suggested that a straight elevation is better than a curved one, similar to the three-level Quezon Boulevard-EDSA interchange, which was the same design suggested by Ebdane for Kalayaan. The engineers suggested that a two-level facility would suffice at Kalayaan so it would be cheaper. They point out that for the same length, a straight road is by far cheaper to build than a curved one. The straight elevation option is safer, requires less gas, and yields better traffic flow.

Bayani has an attitude problem; he is not open to criticism. He sees his design as creative and is blind to its weaknesses. Bayani is a symbol today of extremely dangerous and bad governance. The saying goes, "Arrogance is dangerous. Ignorance is dangerous. But the two together is deadly."

[istan]

Very true.
How many vehicles need to make a u turn vs those who need to to straight.
The road under the uturn bridge is now a bottleneck, after the traffic light pa. So sure yan na traffic yun intersection na yan lagi.

Hay! Bayani, May topak ka siguro.

[ringostarr]

mas maging bobo ang MMDA if they will just follow the consultant's design.

kung ang mga Japanese and American cars close to perfectly engineered cars na eh nagkakadasira dito bec. of our one of a kind stop and go road system

mga engineers karamihan may ere and based purely on theory

the MMDA chief considers all -> both the abnormal culture of PUVs and pedestrians as well as power-tripping private motorists. wala sa engineering nyan


how i wish these media writers would wait until the interchange is being used bago mag-comment. yan ang hirap sa Pilipinas eh wala naman ni-isa sa'tin may 100% certainty kung mag-fully work nga o totally mag-fail kasi yan ang first of a kind study yan dito

kung galit sila na kesyo nag-eengineering si Bayani eh ano tawag sa kanila, it's either Bayani is the Engineer-wannabe or the writer is the engineer-wannabe. yun lang yun, kaya dapat kolektahin ang mga pangalan ng mga writers na ito for the challenge. na pag mali si Bayani, he should resign, pag mali ang mga writers they should resign and mag-traffic dun sa intersection na lang. para naman may consequences

[shadow]

bec he thinks that he is God's gift to mankind....but wait the Bayani fan boys will just say that is "political will"...

[kur0sawa]

saken lang po!

anu po ba trabaho ng DPWH at MMDA?

[iRevoLution_mo]

what????!! yung ongoing construction duns sa c5 after the kalayaan intersection eh cancelled na? mas matagalang traffic na naman yan. kakalaro ata ng sim city yan kaya kung anu anu na lang naiisip nyang gawin eh. nagtataka din ako before dun u-turn slot tapos ganun..

[shadow]

^^^hinde na-cancel yun, it will never happen hanggat chairman ng MMDA si Fernando....

[_Cathy_]

bec he thinks that he is God's gift to mankind....but wait the Bayani fan boys will just say that is "political will"...

I'm guilty of this I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. I regularly pass c5 kalayaan. Minsan naiinis din ako kasi wala naman traffic dun bago pakialaman ng MMDA pero hintayin ko muna how the traffic will turn out after Bayani's project.

[shadow]

I'm guilty of this I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. I regularly pass c5 kalayaan. Minsan naiinis din ako kasi wala naman traffic dun bago pakialaman ng MMDA pero hintayin ko muna how the traffic will turn out after Bayani's project.

no need to wait kung anong result, everytime na kunin mo ang 2 lanes ng 4 lanes highway eh sigurado magiging bottleneck...

[1D4LV]

bec he thinks that he is God's gift to mankind....but wait the Bayani fan boys will just say that is "political will"...

i'm not one of the BF fans in here.... i rest my case...

[ronw123w124]

Sa pagkakaalam ko di ba dapat DPWH ang may say sa mga infrastructure projects tulad nito? So what the hell is Bayani Fernando's business here? Bakit MMDA ang may say dito? Di ba management lang ng traffic ang dapat na papel ng MMDA?

[kur0sawa]

Sa pagkakaalam ko di ba dapat DPWH ang may say sa mga infrastructure projects tulad nito? So what the hell is Bayani Fernando's business here? Bakit MMDA ang may say dito? Di ba management lang ng traffic ang dapat na papel ng MMDA?

Korek ka dyn! baka naman gustong hawakan ni bayani yung DPWH na rin o tagaling nalang kaya DPWH ipalit MMDA o anu kaya?

[ChevyChaser]

Hay! Bayani, May topak ka siguro.

Hindi lang "SIGURO". Talagang may topak si TSERMAN BF.

Does it surprise me that BF has gone and done a stupid thing as the elevated U-Turn, of course not.

If Epifanio de los Santos were alive today, he would grab BF by the balls and kick the hell out of him.

What surprises me is that nag-sawa na ata si TSERMANG sa kaka renovate at pag pintura sa EDSA. I have seen EDSA from its humble beginnings as HIGHWAY 54 to what it is now. Then EDSA was a 4 Lane Gravel Highway with a 2 Lane service road on the sides. At least in the 60s, if you travel on one lane from Cubao you'd end up on the same lane in Pasay. Just try following one lane from Caloocan to Pasay. MAgugulat ka dahil huhulihin ka kasi nag "SWERVING" ka without changing lanes!!!

YES, KALAYAAN ELEVATED U-TURN is indeed a Fiasco. Why? Alam nyo naman sa metro-manila, pag nag-trapik sa isang kalsada, damay lahat.

[incus]

sayang wala na si Bayani, tingnan nyo sa marcos highway , pinagtatangal ang mga pink fences ayun labo-labo na sa u-turn slot sobrang traffic na.

[myk384]

Kaya nga last year's election, ito yung binoto ng magulang ko. Good thing talo.

[vinj]

sayang wala na si Bayani, tingnan nyo sa marcos highway , pinagtatangal ang mga pink fences ayun labo-labo na sa u-turn slot sobrang traffic na.

IMO, dapat i-balik nalang yung stoplights sa Marcos highway or gawan ng flyover yung Sta. Lucia intersection. I used to pass there a lot before and it seemed to be better with the stoplights, when they put the U-turn slots and fences, magulo.

To this very day, sinusumpa ko yung Kalayaan flyover U-turn slots na yan. Its an eyesore and a bottleneck.

[shadow]

To this very day, sinusumpa ko yung Kalayaan flyover U-turn slots na yan. Its an eyesore and a bottleneck.

agree! gagaya lang sa Thailand hinde pa ginayang mabuti. sa Thailand naman kasi eh gumawa sila ng new lanes eh dito pinilit eh existing lanes ang kinuha.

nakakapagtaka lang if you go down further sa may Tiendesitas eh ordinary overpass naman ok naman, eh bakit sa Kalayaan biglang naging elevated U turn?

[umi001]

agree! gagaya lang sa Thailand hinde pa ginayang mabuti. sa Thailand naman kasi eh gumawa sila ng new lanes eh dito pinilit eh existing lanes ang kinuha.

nakakapagtaka lang if you go down further sa may Tiendesitas eh ordinary overpass naman ok naman, eh bakit sa Kalayaan biglang naging elevated U turn?

Exactly what I tell people - a flyover would have been built quicker and be more efficient.

[absinthe]

Exactly what I tell people - a flyover would have been built quicker and be more efficient.

IIRC, DPWh proposed that a flyover be built along Kalayaan, but Bayani turned it down and instead pursued his elevated u-turn.

[ghosthunter]

agree! gagaya lang sa Thailand hinde pa ginayang mabuti. sa Thailand naman kasi eh gumawa sila ng new lanes eh dito pinilit eh existing lanes ang kinuha.

nakakapagtaka lang if you go down further sa may Tiendesitas eh ordinary overpass naman ok naman, eh bakit sa Kalayaan biglang naging elevated U turn?

Yan kasi... vision of the people behind the project too narrow.

Either blinded by his big ego or the big kickbacks.

Regular flyover would benefit both the motorist and pedestrians.

The elevated u-turns is a nightmare to cross if you are a pedestrian.

IN the end, it will be an example to the world NOT what to build.