AT least 1,474 personnel of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will be fielded by the agency to help manage traffic flow and provide assistance from May 2 to 6 during the 51st Asian Development Bank (ADB) Annual Meeting of Governors in Mandaluyong City.
At the frontline are members of the Task Group Traffic Management in charge of providing personnel and equipment along the ADB dedicated route for seamless movement of delegates from airport to billeting hotel, venues and other engagement areas and vice versa, at the least inconvenience to the general public.
The five-day meeting is expected to gather 3,000 delegates, composed of finance and development ministers and central bank governors of the bank’s 67 member-economies.
No roads will be closed for the four-day gathering, but stop-and-go schemes will be implemented on some intersections to give way for the delegates’ convoy.
“The concentration area is only at the Ortigas Business District, Shangri-La and ADB,” said Frisco San Juan, MMDA deputy chairman.
Occasional traffic disruption might be experienced along Edsa from Magallanes to Ortigas area whenever delegates’ convoy, from airport to Ortigas Center, will pass.
Convoy carrying delegates will use the yellow lane and inserts toward Ayala and Shaw Boulevard flyover/tunnel and underpasses while traveling along Edsa.
After every tunnel/underpass and flyover, the convoy will be directed to the yellow lane for public-utility buses. The inner part of the yellow lane is designated as delegates’ path to and from destinations.
In the Ortigas Business District area, intermittent stops are expected on Julia Vargas, ADB Avenue, San Miguel Avenue, Guadix, Bank Drive, Saint Francis Street, all in the jurisdiction of the cities of Pasig and Mandaluyong.
The MMDA will also set up the ADB special lane along Saint Francis Street and Bank Drive.
Motorists are advised to take alternative routes.