MMDA implements "clearway" u-turn system on Katipunan. Comments?

**mbt** · February 6th, 2004 12:48 AM

all the major intersections along Katipunan starting from Ateneo Gate 3 to C.P Garcia have been closed. All vehicles making a left turn at these intersections now have to make U-turns at the specially-constructed U-turn slots.

frankly, the idea is really good -- eliminate bottlenecking at intersecions and making through traffic continuously fluid (at sobrang daming stoplight intersections along that stretch of katipunan) -- but katipunan road seems to be quite narrow to accomodate u-turn slots. closing the left-most lane to accomodate the slot doesn't seem to be enough for the turning circles of many vehicles, so u-turning vehicles take up the second and even the third lane of the road.

the large number of vehicles also seems to overwhelm the u-turn slot (lalo na't hindi marunong mag single file ang mga pinoy driver, and sometimes, hindi rin feasible mag single file), and in the case of the Ateneo Gate 3 u-turn slot, the immense volume of traffic coming out of Ateneo Gate 3 has to cut across the width of Katipunan to reach the u-turn slot. this echoes the situation in the Quezon Ave. - southbound EDSA u-turn slot, where the large volume of u-turning vehicles cuts the flow of through traffic.

it is now also extremely difficult to cross Katipunan at the Ateneo Gate 3 area, unless traffic is jammed or there is a crossing guard. this may not be such a good idea since a lot of students cross at that point. a pedestrian overpass must be constructed at that site if the project is to be permanently implemented.

for some areas, like the U.P. University Drive and Commonwealth intersection, the no-left turn rule has resulted in dramatically smoother traffic flow (although the vehicles cutting left to reach the u-turn slot impedes through traffic somewhat, hindi naman masyadong mabigat yung traffic volume at that area, so fluid pa rin yung traffic). also, commonwealth is a very wide avenue. but it seems that in the case of Katipunan, as with Quezon Ave.-EDSA, the road isn't wide enough for this bit of traffic engineering.

although i have to give credit to the MMDA for at least TRYING something and not just talking the talk without walking it. i also find arguments against this experimental Katipunan scheme based on "don't cut the trees" absolutely ridiculous. cutting a few trees (not all) but gaining in overall fuel economy and reducing pollution by reducing traffic buildup is to me an overall gain for the environment.

what do you peeps think of the MMDA's clearway projects and the Katipunan scheme in particular?

**kiper** · February 6th, 2004 01:48 AM

okay yan. tagal ko na ngang hinihintay gawin ng MMDA yan eh.

saka kung pupupwede lang, pakitanggal na ung mga puno dun. "tanggalin. hindi putulin." alam naman ni bayani yan eh. he already bought tree-removing equipment for that.

ewan ko lang ba dun sa senator na yun..parehas silang tangangot nung tinutulak nyang pagka-presidente.

**MAXBUWAYA** · February 6th, 2004 02:04 AM

bunedia ganito na din from PICC roxas bago dumating ng Buedia plaza beerhose. (maigsi lang) pero epektib i think!

**Ikabod** · February 6th, 2004 02:24 AM

I agree that the traffic experiment (closing the intersections and instead putting U-turn slots) will not work precisely because, as previously said, the width of Kaitpunan will not accomodate the number of lanes needed (for motorists using the U-turn slots and the ones going straight ahead) for such a scheme. Quezon Ave. which is wider than Katipunan already experiences bottlenecks because a lot of motorists don't want to line up going into the U-turn slots, for a narrower road like Katipunan it would be worse.

The traffic jams due to the U-turn slots are aggravated by the number of cars illegally parked in front of the different establishments within the Katipunan area, which further restricts traffic flow. A possible solution for this would be to regularly tow vehicles illegally parked on Katipunan, particularly those that park on the service road divider, as well those illegally parked along nearby streets.

One of the main causes of the traffic problems along Katipunan is the sheer volume of cars going into the different schools such as Ateneo, Miriam College, and the other schools within the area (such as that school beside McDonald's that always seems to have a lot of cars in front of the school blocking the service road of the flyover). The problem of these schools is that there are very limited areas of ingress and egress to allow free flow of traffic to and from their school. Since these schools are one of the main causes of the traffic problem in the area, I believe the schools have a social responsibility to the community to think of ways to discourage the students from bringing cars to schools (especially the ones riding by themselves) to minimize the number of vehicles entering their campuses. Another way may be for the schools to consult with the MMDA, the city govt., Katipunan area residents on opening up other school entrances/exits in other nearby roads to lessen the amount of traffic going into Katipunan itself (since schools such as Miriam College only has two gates, Ateneo has three gates (I think)). If this would not be possible, then maybe the schools can widen their roads within their campuses to accomodate the larger number of students' cars to allow a smoother flow of vehicles as well as add more gates for the students to enter and exit from. There also used to be a proposal about arranging the school schedules so the students from the different schools don't get out all at the same time (I guess this was shelved since we haven't heard anything about it since it was first proposed.).

Also, those makeshift tricycle terminals should be relocated to a more proper area since these restrict the flow of vehicles in the streets across the schools' gates. This makes going to alternative routes such as Xavierville Ave. very difficult due to heavy traffic congestion during peak hours. These tricycles are also very dangerous since they go against the traffic flow on the supposedly one way service road.

**mbt** · February 6th, 2004 02:50 AM

malaking problema yung "illegal parking" sa side streets... although this is a school zone, students should be conscientious enough to leave their vehicles on campus and walk or take a trike instead of parking by the side of the street...

i've also noticed that some vehicles from the northbound lane of Katipunan taking the U-turn slot near the pedestrian overpass on the Ateneo side cut almost perpendicularly to the southbound lane of Katipunan to go to the starbucks/shakey's/mcdonalds area. they're practically making a left turn across the entire southbound lane in a monumental swerve! traffic enforcers should direct these vehicles to take the farther U-turn slot so they can merge properly onto traffic. actually, dapat nakikita na mismo nung drivers nung mga sasakyan na to na nagcucut sila ng sobrang lapit... but with typical Pinoy driving mentality......

**Ikabod** · February 6th, 2004 03:10 AM

mbt,

You're right about that U-turn slot near the McDonald's area. A lot of drivers almost do a left turn towards that area. Additional traffic congestion is done by drivers doing a U-turn and immediately going into the street between McDo and Shakey's very slowly creating a barrier for southbound cars since there is almost always a bottleneck there (due to tricycles picking up passengers and cars parking at McDo and Shakey's).

By the way, isn't it unsafe to put a U-turn slot just several meters after the steep Katipunan/Aurora Blvd. flyover?

**OTEP** · February 6th, 2004 11:43 AM

Ang problema sa U-turn slot ay yung mga drayber na gumagamit nito.

Dito lang sa Quezon Ave. ang Jeepney hindi u-turn ang ginagawa sa U-turn slot kundi LEFT TURN!!! Sobrang nakakaburat. At hindi lang ito limited sa jeepney. Pati mga passenger vehicles (who intend to turn right after making the u-turn) are also guilty of these. Haven't these guys heard of MERGING? They should go with the flow first before merging right.

Another problem would be drivers who are impatient in lining up at the u-turn slot and would instead block other lanes (which are supposed to go straight) trying to jam themselves into the slot. These drivers should be shot on site.

The pedestrians should do their part too. It is a clearway, not LUNETA. The overpasses are so freakin' pink how can they not see (and use) them? Grrr...sakin pa galit ang mga mokong.

**gearspeed** · February 6th, 2004 12:18 PM

Ang problema sa U-turn slot ay yung mga drayber na gumagamit nito.

Dito lang sa Quezon Ave. ang Jeepney hindi u-turn ang ginagawa sa U-turn slot kundi LEFT TURN!!! Sobrang nakakaburat. At hindi lang ito limited sa jeepney. Pati mga passenger vehicles (who intend to turn right after making the u-turn) are also guilty of these. Haven't these guys heard of MERGING? They should go with the flow first before merging right.

Another problem would be drivers who are impatient in lining up at the u-turn slot and would instead block other lanes (which are supposed to go straight) trying to jam themselves into the slot. These drivers should be shot on site.

The pedestrians should do their part too. It is a clearway, not LUNETA. The overpasses are so freakin' pink how can they not see (and use) them? Grrr...sakin pa galit ang mga mokong.

Agree ako dito lalo na dun sa may banawe bago ako maka U-turn sa U-turn slot eh matatrapik muna ako dahil ayaw magbigay ng ibang mga sasakyan lalo na mga passenger jeep laging nagpapahabol tapos hirap pa magright turn dahil nga papunta ako ng banawe tapos humihinto pa mga jeep sa corner na yun tapos ayaw na naman mabigayan ng ibang kotse...

Kung pwede lang ang sarap tuloy maglagay sa kotse ng pangshove or pantulak sa mga ganun kotse na hindi nagbibigay...

**badkuk** · February 6th, 2004 12:29 PM

hmmm...ung sa buendia kc, ung part starting from bandang roxas blvd up to ung bridge, ganun din ginawa...naiblock lahat ng intersections, tapos me designated u turn slots na lang.

the downside to this is, coz nakasara na lahat ng intersections, it makes little sense to follow the traffic lights...ung nagiging effect kc e tuluy-tuloy ung traffic...e papano na makakadaan ung pedestrians? makikipatintero na lang? e wala namang over/underpass sa buendia...so the mmda is actually encouraging this sort of pedestrian behavior?

speaking of buendia...baket ba binakbak ung daan dun? from 4lanes nagiging 2 lanes na lang...i thought they were supposed to make traffic *better*, not worse...

ganun din sa buendia-pasong tamo. ung going toward ayala ave, nagiging two lanes na dahil sa pambabakbak. ung opposite direction naman, di pantay ung pagbalik ng binakbak na portion...kaya lahat ng kotse e nag 10 -20 kph para di masagi sa malalim sa artificial lubak!

cno ba me kagagawan nito? paki post dito 't sisiguraduhin kong wla silang makukuhang boto sa akin

**RedHorse** · February 6th, 2004 12:33 PM

mas magaan pa rin ang traffic sa del monte then ma. clara street pag papunta ako ng quiapo...

dumadaan lang ako sa quezon ave., pag Sunday, at TIMING na hindi oras ng labasan/pasukan sa Sto. Domingo Church..

Ewan ko ba, bakit di pa malagyan ng overpass ang simbahan na iyan.