While doing recon for a project in Tarlac, we inspected several areas where local roads were being used as alternate routes to national highways. Many of the local roads where categorized under Provincial or City Roads but were usually and obviously lower in quality when compared with their national counterparts. In many cases, the asphalt or cement concrete surface has been badly weathered and motorists won’t be able to avoid one pothole after the other.

The following photos were taken along the east dike road of the Tarlac River. The dike is not so conspicuous when seen from the main road during summers. This is in part due to the river usually having little water flowing due to the lahar that accumulated there from Mt. Pinatubo’s destructive eruptions in 1991. It’s a different case during the wet season when the river can overflow due to the amount of rainfall usually brought about by typhoons.

Dirt road from the town of Gerona, Tarlac

Trucks hauling sand from the riverbed a few hundred meters from our location

Dirt road access to the riverbed where sand for construction is extracted

A preview of the dike road on the eastern flank of the Tarlac River

Mad rush? – a truck overtakes another to get to the sand quarry site first

Truck counter-flowing at the tree that serves as a median island of sorts. It’s likely the truck driver made the decision to bypass what looked like a stalled tricycle  beneath the shady tree.

Typical light traffic to the sand quarry

Two-way traffic along the dirt road with the tree serving as a sentinel of sorts.

Local roads in a community along the westbound extension of the Gerona-Guimba Road (west of Gerona town proper from the junction with McArthur Highway) – the photo shows the extension as seen from a diversion road that leads travelers north towards the bridge to the town of Camiling from Paniqui.

Concrete roads are used as solar driers for palay and other items (e.g., coconut husks, barbecue sticks, tingting, etc.) can occupy much of the road in areas where there is very low traffic during the mid-day.

In such cases as above, motorists have no choice but to drive over the palay.

Local roads are paved and conditions are excellent but have practically no shoulders all throughout their lengths.

These used to be dirt roads but the local governments, likely with the assistance of the local congressman, seem committed to having them concreted.

Some sections are a bit narrow and could fit two tricycles passing each other but could be a challenge with larger vehicles. Such widths though are good enough for such low traffic volume roads.

Both sides of the road are inhabited and have been planted with flowering plants (e.g., bougainvillas, santan, gumamela, etc.). Bananas are quite easy to grow and bear fruits almost immediately and productively.

End of the paved part of the dike road – from this point, its a dirt road until just before the junction with the Paniqui-Camiling Road.

The face of the dike is visible on the right side in the photo. I like this photo and the previous one because they show the vastness of the Tarlac River that have been covered with lahar.

I got curious about the cultivation along the riverbed and our driver told us these were onions that were able to grow on the thin soil.

Another look at the onion plantations along the Tarlac Riverbed

The Paniqui-Camiling Road at the north end of the dike road

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Me and some colleagues decided to have an early lunch after a meeting in Manila one morning and ended up at a fried chicken restaurant at Malate along Roxas Boulevard. As it was still early, we were able to get choice seats with a window from across Roxas Blvd. and had a clear view of the road also known as R-1 and the service road between it and the restaurant. As we were exchanging stories and making observations of traffic during a summer morning we noticed the streetlights along Roxas Blvd. and casually exchanged remarks (and laughs) for what seemed like a “showcase” for different light posts along a road that is traversed not just by citizens of this country but also visitors (i.e., tourists).

That’s the 4-lane service road along Roxas Blvd. just across from the restaurant. Roxas Blvd. itself is on the other side of the island with the electric post at the center of the photo.

There are three streetlight designs along Roxas Boulevard, at least along the section in the City of Manila. The first one the right in the photo seems to have the atom as an inspiration. The second, at the center of the photo, looks like a torch with the flames shaped in red-colored steel. The third, on the left of the photo, looks like a swing or a hammock and is similar to the much-maligned lamps in Cebu City.

These different streetlights along Roxas Boulevard are definitely examples of folly. They are a waste of public funds and sadly has not led to the proverbial heads rolling as a result of the obvious waste of money. Moreover, there might also be a likelihood of money being pocketed by corrupt persons as is likely the case for such situations in the Philippines.

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I took the following photos en route to the venue of our annual planning workshop. This year our office went to San Antonio, Zambales and our trip allowed me to photograph road conditions and characteristics along the Olongapo-Castillejos Road, which is a national highway. Like most Philippine highways, one will notice the operations of the ubiquitous tricycle, a motorized three-wheeled paratransit mode popular and dominant in many towns and cities.

City limits – boundary of Olongapo City and Subic municipality with one of the most colorful arches I’ve seen along a national road

Rounding the curve – some congestion due to the slow-moving trailer carrying a backhoe/excavator

Passing distance – a platoon of vehicles passes the slow-moving truck. With no vehicles along the opposing lane, many vehicles succeed in the passing maneuver

Regional buses – including mini-buses tend to stop anywhere along their routes and tend to cause congestion like pedicabs, tricycles and jeepneys

The real Subic – Municipal hall of Subic town. People always refer to Subic as the former US naval base; the area of which was carved out from the provinces of Zambales and Bataan. In reality, no part of the Subic Freeport is in Subic town and the name comes from the bay rather than the town.

Good roads – the roads along the national highway were mostly in good or excellent condition including those in the CBD or bayan

Busy streets – traffic was relatively heavy along the highway at Subic

Mixed traffic – aside from the typical jeepneys, tricycles and motorcycles everywhere, there were a significant number of buses and trucks

Parade of tricycles – like most towns around the Philippines, roads are often dominated by local traffic most especially tricycles that are used for public transport in even large cities

Air conditioning? – we came upon this tricycle carrying a block of ice (apparently purchased by a passenger) and wondered what would be left of the block once they reach their destination

Open road – past Subic town center, traffic was already very light

No overtaking – many sections along the road featured a solid orange-yellow line along the middle of the highway that should be understood as no overtaking. Shoulders are also clearly marked by the solid white lines on either side of the carriageway

Curvature – overtaking is discouraged along curves as sight is limited and therefore restricts drivers’ and riders’ capabilities to properly discern opposing vehicles.

Passing sight distance – the view from our position as we prepared to pass a slower moving vehicle in front of us illustrates sufficient PSD for us to succeed in our maneuver. Note the perceived distance between us and the vehicle in the opposing lane.

Clear for take-off – such scenes along low traffic volume highway sections around the country and elsewhere seem to invite drivers to speed up.

Bridge before the boundary – I didn’t pay attention enough to see the name of the bridge and had to google it. Pamatawan Bridge allows people to cross the Balaybay River in Zambales. Just after the bridge and visible downstream from our position in the photo is the arch welcoming travelers to the Municipality of Castillejos.

Municipal boundary – like many others across the country boundaries are marked by arches like the one in the photo welcoming travelers to Municipality of Castillejos. This one though is among the more appropriate ones given the town’s name, which translates to “small castle.”

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A day after featuring the ongoing lane rationalization project along Katipunan Avenue, I was able to take photos of the transplanted trees along the median as we traveled along the southbound direction of the road. The trees were transferred to the new median as will the light posts later.

Following are three photos taken last May 16, 2012 showing the transplanted trees with their leaves still green but already showing signs of withering (nalalanta na). I thought this was natural given the grown trees being balled and transferred plus the fact that we were still enduring the summer heat.

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This morning (Sunday, May 20), as I drove along the same way I saw that the trees’ branches have been cut off. I am not a botanist or an expert with flora but perhaps this was done to allow the trees to recover? The optimist in me says leaves will eventually sprout from the stubs much like they did for the trees removed from the Katipunan service road about a decade ago that were transferred to the Marikina Riverbanks, many of which lived only to perish from Ondoy’s floods in 2009. The following photos are what’s left of the median island trees of Katipunan.

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