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Category Archives: Highways and Streets
Status of Barkadahan Bridge, Taytay, Rizal
I recently wrote about the Barkadahan Bridge and its current state and compared it to the Marcos Highway Bridge that is now completed and fully opened to travelers. Unfortunately, I didn’t have photos to share but only shared my observations based on what friends have told me and what I’ve read on social media (i.e., Rizal Provincial’s and Taytay’s official Facebook pages) about the situation there. I finally had the opportunity last Sunday when I went to fetch my family at the airport. Here are photos of the Barkadahan Bride and its environs. Note that Barkadahan is actually two bridges and not one. The new one is currently being used for two way traffic (one lane each) while the second one is under rehabilitation and retrofitting. The latter had and will have 2 lanes, too.
Approach to the Barkadahan Bridge via Highway 2000 – notice the widening on the south side of the highway? That’s the ROW expropriated to align the bridge(s) with the highway. Ultimately, this should be of the same width as C-6.
Closer to the bridge, you see more of the ROW acquired to improve the geometry for the area and the intersection with the East Bank Road. Highway 2000 is now aligned with the second (newer) bridge constructed that will eventually carry only the eastbound traffic. The older bridge currently being rehabilitated and retrofitted will carry the westbound traffic.
Vehicles crowd on the two-lane bridge that is the new Barkadahan Bridge. The old one is currently being rehabbed. Notice the significant volume of trucks using the bridge? This is expected to increase due to the industrial developments in Rizal Province and along C-6, and the direct route this corridor provides towards the SLEX via Bicutan.
Big sign at the bridge – there are many of these scattered around Pasig and Rizal advising travelers against using the route and Barkadahan Bridge because for the construction work on the bridge. This ‘avoidance’ basically transferred (some say returned) much of the traffic to Ortigas Avenue Extension. Many if not most users of the bridge use this alternate route to travel from Rizal to BGC and Makati CBD.
A peek at the construction work on the old bridge – note that the contractor seems to have completed installing the steel reinforcement for the slabs for this section of the bridge. The next phase would be the concrete pouring.
Still another peek showing the extent of the work on the old bridge – my casual observation of the work areas was that there seems to be not so many workers. But then maybe it was a Sunday? Perhaps there should be more people working considering this is a very urgent project?
Tricycles, motorcycles and bicycles – there’s a lot of local traffic using the bridge and these are represented by mostly tricycles serving the residential and commercial areas along the East and West Bank Roads and the cyclists you most often see crossing the bridge. Most motorcycles are through traffic. On weekends one can observe more recreational cyclists as this route is a popular one to Rizal and particularly its mountainous areas that are popular to mountain and road cyclists.
Counterflow – many motorcyclists tend to counterflow and this adds to the friction and slows down traffic. Once the other bridge is completed and re-opened, these will likely be reduced to lane splitting or filtering as the opposite flows of traffic will be assigned to separate bridges. Counterflow traffic will then be very obvious and should be apprehended.
Here’s the resulting queue on the other side of the bridge. This is severe congestion that reaches C-6. Note that the photo was taken on a Sunday. Perhaps these travelers have no other option but to use this route so they are stuck in hellish traffic on a Sunday? I can only imagine how worse it is on weekdays.
As a parting shot, I think there are still a couple of things that need to be addressed once the bridges are both open to traffic:
- Optimizing traffic management at the intersections with the East Bank Road and West Bank Road of Manggahan Floodway – the (mis)management of traffic here also contributes to congestion in the area. Traffic enforcers on both ends of the bridge have basic knowledge of how traffic must be managed and end up with the “buhos” approach. They don’t seem to be coordinating with each other, too. Their approach also heavily favors the East and West Bank roads when traffic is heavier along the main corridor that is C-6/Highway 2000. There needs to be a more efficient way to manage traffic here and that may be in the form of a sophisticated traffic signal system at least for the two intersections. Settings need to be studied and signals have to be adaptive to the variation of traffic throughout the day.
- Resolve bottlenecks in the area including structures that tend to reduce capacities of the approaches to the bridge.
More on this topic soon!
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Boundaries of Rizal towns
You don’t see arches (arko) marking the boundaries of Rizal towns. A couple of weeks ago, I traveled to Baras where our office had its annual strategic planning workshop. Along the way, I drove along four towns – Antipolo, Teresa, Morong and Baras. There were few notable landmarks along my route unlike what I usually observe on trips to the north including the central Luzon and Ilocos towns where old buildings like churches and municipal halls (even houses) dot the way. Among the notables usually are the arches announcing your entry or exit to/from towns and provinces.
Arch between Baras and Morong along the Manila East Road
Signs marking the boundary of Teresa and Antipolo
Were there arches before for Rizal towns? Perhaps. What happened to them? Many probably were demolished due to road widening projects as the additional lanes meant the arches for the previous 2-lane roads became obstacles that increased the risk for crashes (i.e., vehicles crashing into them). I wonder now if the arches in Tarlac and Pangasinan towns survived the road widening projects there.
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A little bit of history – on how the US interstate highway system came to be
Here’s one of those quick shares that I usually post here. I am a bit of a history buff and mixing that with transport will likely lead to a post like this. Here is a short article about an event in the history of the US Army that happened 100 years ago:
editor@aashto.org (2019) Celebrating Highway History: The US Army’s 1919 Cross-Country Convoy, aashto.org, https://aashtojournal.org/2019/07/12/celebrating-highway-history-the-u-s-armys-1919-cross-country-convoy/ [Last accessed: July 12, 2019]
The article was particularly interesting for me because of two items: the road conditions and the man behind the US inter-state highway system. It took them a little over 2 months to cross the continental US because of poor road conditions. Many people have no sense of history and appreciation of what has been accomplished over the years and how difficult it was to travel at the time. I haven’t done the cross country trip but I have close friends who’ve done it and are thankful for the generally good roads they could use for the experiential road trip. Meanwhile, the person in the article – then Lt. Col. Dwight D. Eisenhower – is a man who made his mark in history at first as the Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in the European Theater in World War 2, who would later on become President of the US. I read elsewhere that the US interstate highway system was designed so aircraft may use them as runways in cases when the US were at war and the enemy had bombed their airports and airfields (just like what the Japanese did in the Pacific).
Do we have similar accounts for our roads and bridges in the Philippines? Were there key persons who may or may not be larger than life figures instrumental in developing our road infrastructure with their vision and leadership (Marcos doesn’t count because of his bogus military record and corrupt regime)? It would be nice to compile these and perhaps it should be a collaboration between the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the National Historical Commission (NHC). They could even get the history departments of local universities involved for us to understand the evolution of transportation in this country.
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Reservoir roads – Part 2
Previously, I posted about the reservoir roads we crossed when we traveled to Baler, Aurora last April 2019. It’s been a while since that post so before I forget, here are more photos of those reservoir roads taken during our return trip from Baler.
The two lane highway becomes a single lane section at the Diayo River Reservoir road
A view of the fish pens at the Diayo River reservoir
Pristine waters with the Sierra Madre mountain range in the background
Approaching the end of the Diayo reservoir road
There is a checkpoint at the 2-lane section bridging the Diayo reservoir road with the Canili River reservoir road
Vehicles entering the Canili reservoir road – this again is a one-lane, one-way section where vehicles from either direction would have to give way to either.
Shoulder and fish pens
Waters of the Canili River Reservoir with the Sierra Madre mountains in the background
Fishermen on a banca – they looked like they were inspecting their fish pens
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Traffic management schemes for the Marcos Highway bridge rehab
The rehabilitation of the Marcos Highway Bridge in Marikina has necessitated traffic management schemes at the bridge itself and along alternative routes to alleviate congestion in the area. These are collectively called traffic or transport systems management (TSM) schemes with the objective of optimising existing infrastructure and resources without necessarily building something entirely new. These are quite different from travel demand management (TDM) schemes that include number coding and truck ban policies that are already being implemented (though Marikina does not implement the number coding scheme).
Traffic build-up at the approach to the intersection with FVR Road (To Riverbanks). This is now a signalised intersection as traffic from Blue Ridge/White Plains is now allowed to cross to FVR Road.
Using the route via FVR Road (Riverbanks) means you don’t have to cross the Marcos Highway Bridge and travellers will merge with those who crossed the bridge just before the Line 2 Santolan Station.
In the mornings, one lane each is allocated for either the eastbound or westbound traffic. That’s practically a total of 3 lanes (+2 lanes westbound for the SM Marikina Bridge) for the westbound direction and a single lane for the eastbound side. This is logical given the directional distribution of traffic at this time of day and the alternative routes already available to travellers.
Here are a few photos taken on a night time drive. Note that this was taken by a passenger. Don’t even try doing this (taking photos) while driving a vehicle, and especially not while on a motorcycle.
Entrance to the bridge right after Maj. Dizon – this part is not affected by the rehab works but vehicles position themselves to shift towards the left side, which is the usable part of the bridge.
Both lanes of the westbound side of the bridge are used for eastbound traffic. Westbound traffic are all along the SM Marikina bridge for a total of 2 lanes each for either direction of flow. The cones are not removed for practicality since they would have to be installed for the morning when one lane is allocated for the westbound traffic.
Vehicles shift to the right to return to the correct lanes for eastbound traffic along Marcos Highway at the Santolan area. Note the westbound vehicles shifting towards the underpass and SM Marikina on the left.
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Scenic route along my commute
My regular commute between my home and my workplace typically has 5 alternative routes with three taking me to Sumulong Highway. While night-time travels aren’t at all noteworthy, daytime travel especially from home to office provides for some nice views of the city. Along the highway, though, there are also some nice sceneries especially this time of year when the fire trees are in full bloom. Here’s a photo along Sumulong Highway showing some of the fire trees along its stretch.
You don’t get these views when you are along Marcos Highway, Ortigas Avenue, C-5 or Felix Avenue.
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Reservoir roads – Part 1
I remember posting about “submersible bridges”, dike roads and the like. There were two roads atop 2 dams that were part of 2 reservoirs in : the Canili River Reservoir and the Diayo River Reservoir, which are dwarfed by the much larger Pantabangan reservoir and dam nearby. These two reservoirs are at the border of Nueva Vizcaya (Alfonso Castaneda) and Isabela (Maria Aurora), which also happens to be the border of Regions 2 and 3 (Cagayan Valley and Central Luzon, respectively). Here are photos of the roads atop the dams that are part of the Pantabangan-Baler Road.
Vehicles may only pass a single lane with shoulders on either side of the lane. And so there are people posted at either ends of the sections to manage the one-way traffic.
The reservoir is visible on the left side of the photo
Forested area and ravine on the right side
Some fish pens on the Canili reservoir side
A view of the east end of the Canili reservoir road where westbound vehicles await their turn to traverse the section.
The eastern end of the Canili reservoir road
There’s a short two-lane segment between the Canili and Diayo reservoir roads
Traveling along the Diayo reservoir road
Fish pens at the Diayo Reservoir
The other side of the dam
The eastern end on the Diayo reservoir road where the single lane road transitions into a 2-lane road.
More photos in Part 2…soon.
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Arko along the highways
I tried to take photos of the arches that used to typically mark the boundaries between cities, municipalities and provinces en route to Baler, Aurora. I didn’t find many despite the numerous towns we passed along the way. Here are the one’s I saw, with some apparently rebuilt after the road widening projects of the DPWH.
Welcome arch to the Province of Nueva Ecija as we exited Tarlac Province – the first town after La Paz, Tarlac is Zaragosa, Nueva Ecija
Welcome arch of the Municipality of Aliaga, Nueva Ecija
Cabanatuan City’s arch as we exited towards Llanera
Welcome arch of Llanera, Nueva Ecija
Relatively new and modern arch design of Rizal, Nueva Ecija
More on these arches soon!
Do you have photos of arches in your place that you can share? Post them on the comments section! 🙂
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Reference on bike-focused street transformations
There’s an update to the “Rethinking Streets” guide with one that is focused on street transformation for bicycles. Here is the link to their site where they now have 2 guidebooks:
http://www.rethinkingstreets.com
You will have to click one of the guides to register (if you haven’t done so before) and download them.
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Vertical curves along the Pan Philippine Highway
We start the month of March with a compilation of photos of vertical curves (mostly sags). These were taken along the Andaya Highway, which serves as the main bypass road in Camarines that allows travellers to bypass, for example, Daet.
These photos do not have captions and I leave it to my readers to have an appreciation of the features of these sections. These include wide carriageways with paved shoulders. There are also sections that have no shoulders. For most photos, the pavement appears to be in good condition. However, the same cannot be said for much of the highway, sections of which are being rehabilitated along with several bridges.
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Caught (up) in traffic 