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?