NADI, Fiji—Filipinos walking to and from the MRT and LRT will soon get some reprieve from the scorching heat of the sun and torrential rains as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the government are in the thick of preparing the construction of six to seven elevated greenways in congested parts of Metro Manila.
In a briefing on the sidelines of the 52nd ADB Annual Meeting here on Wednesday, ADB Southeast Asia Director General Ramesh Subramaniam told reporters that ADB will extend $100 million worth of loans to construct the greenways.
The ADB and the government intend to complete at least one greenway by 2020. The first three locations for the greenways project, which is still being evaluated by the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), will be North Edsa in Quezon City, Pasig City and Taft Avenue.
“The idea is to promote pedestrian-friendly structures so their reliance on public transport will go down as the Philippines finds other solutions. So we are very optimistic about it. We’re going to start small, but there’s a good plan, good feasibility study that has been done and the Department of Transportation [DOTr], as well as the DPWH [Department of Public Works and Highways], are very keen, they’re very committed,” Subramaniam said.
ADB Southeast Asia Department Deputy Director General F. Cleo Kawawaki explained that the greenways can be used by both pedestrians and cyclists. She said the ADB and the government are currently designing a structure to turn this into a reality.
Kawawaki said by designing these greenways in this way, the structures will also solve two problems—road congestion and road safety. Traffic along major thoroughfares has cost the economy billions worth of lost economic productivity while road accidents have increased.
Economic cost: P3.5 billion
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) estimated that the economic cost of transportation is P3.5 billion a day in Metro Manila. If this is not addressed, the economic costs could reach P5.4 billion a day in 2035.
Based on the annual report of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), of the total 116,906 accidents reported in 2018, around 98,632 were damage-to-property cases; 17,891 were nonfatal injuries; and 383 were fatal.
Further, the hit-pedestrian collision type accidents had the highest number of fatal cases at 141 or 36.81 percent of the total accident-related deaths in 2018.
“What we’re trying to do is to see if there are ways where we can have the bicycle but also on the elevated, so that the roads are reserved for the cars. So less accidents, less traffic,” Kawawaki said.
Subramaniam said the models being used for the greenways are those found in Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Seoul. He added that the ADB is also looking at Europe-based designs.
He said completing at least one greenway this year or next year would also serve as an example of how to do the succeeding greenways.