Home » Posts tagged 'traffic congestion'
Tag Archives: traffic congestion
Road crash along Ortigas Avenue Extension leads to Carmaggedon – impacts on traffic
The crash involving a truck, a car and a jeepney last Saturday led to severe traffic jams. Taytay traffic management decided to apply a one way alternating scheme while they were conducting emergency and clearing operations at the site. The result was very long queues along Ortigas Avenue Extension/ Corazon Aquino Avenue.
Travelers were forced to use alternate routes going down from Antipolo. That led to these alternate routes becoming congested as well as streets were generally narrow and were not meant for heavy traffic.
While the crash was severe and probably led to a fatality if not more, there was actually space for two way traffic. There would still be congestion but at least traffic would have been moving instead of at a standstill for long periods of time. While this may appear to be insensitive to those involved in the crash, this is the practical thing to do for traffic management. This is also to lessen the impacts of such crashes on the network and transport operations (i.e., movement of people and goods).
–
More flash floods due to intense downpours
Yesterday’s commute to our home was much longer than usual. It took us around 2 hours to get home even after leaving our office around 6PM. We experienced the wake or aftermath of congestion caused mainly by the flash floods and electrical damage to the LRT Line 2. The flash floods were caused by the intense rains after noon time. Floods were reported around Metro Manila but the one that ultimately affected us were the flood along Ortigas Avenue Extension near the Valley Golf gate. A long stretch was impassable to most vehicles. Our daughter got home 2.5 hours after her school dismissal when it usually only took around 1 hour on typical mid afternoon traffic along that corridor. The route we took home via Marcos Highway was affected by so many passengers getting stranded by the Line 2’s suspension of services between Santolan and Antipolo Stations. People occupied the traffic lanes of Marcos Highway as they positioned themselves to get to the next available jeepney or bus. Many chose to walk towards Ligaya and even Sta. Lucia Mall where many jeepneys bound for Rizal towns turnaround.
Line 2 suspended operations between Santolan and Antipolo Stations due to electrical damage sustained after a lightning strike damaged the catenary that transmitted power to the trains.
Passengers occupied the traffic lanes of Marcos Highway; many already tired from a day’s work or school. LRTA did not seem to have a plan or protocol to address such situations. Perhaps a call to bus companies or even the MMDA and LGUs like Antipolo, Cainta, Marikina and Pasig could have alleviated the situation of commuters? Antipolo did send vehicles to ferry passengers but they were not enough for the demand. These are exactly the situations that make public transportation unattractive to many people.
I hope we’ve (read: authorities including national and local governments) learned from this year’s weather-related problems and will address these so we can have less disruptions and losses in the coming years. It is predicted that we will have an intense El Niño so that means a long dry spell and also hotter days ahead. Perhaps nature’s message this year is that there’s enough water (from rain) and she is challenging us to come up with a system and facilities that will retain such amounts of water for the dry seasons?
–
Traffic congestion due to flood control project – another interceptor for Cainta and Marikina
This week, another flood control project commenced that is expected to bring more congestion along Marcos Highway. The construction involves constriction along the corridor. That is, the capacity of Marcos Highway will be reduced due to the space required by the project. This meant the closure of U-turn slots and the reopening of the Marcos Highway-Felix Avenue-Gil Fernando Avenue intersection. There is significant traffic from Felix that turns left to Marcos Highway towards Quezon City. Instead of continuous, uninterrupted flow towards the former U-turn slot across Burger King, vehicles now need to queue for their turn to make a left turn. And this has led to long queues along Feliz Avenue that reaches Karangalan Village, even Vista Verde on a bad day.
Two lanes have been closed to give way to excavations and the installation of large pipes that will connect with the existing drainage in the area. This interceptor will eventually drain to the Marikina River and is expected to reduce flooding particularly in Cainta and Antipolo where residential subdivisions have endured floods during the wet season for many years.
The project will run for a year. That, of course, assumes that there will be no delays for whatever reasons might come up. The LGUs concerned including Antipolo, Cainta, Marikina and Pasig are cooperating with the MMDA to address traffic management issues.
–
Commuting through floods
Yesterday’s rains were catastrophic. Reports stated that a week’s rains fell over a period of 2 to 5 hours, depending on where you were in the Mega Manila area. The resulting floods provided misery to people in flood-prone areas as well as those who had to go through the floods on their commutes to their homes. Here are photos from my commute going home yesterday. I relied on Waze for the shortest travel time and the app took me to flooded areas in Cainta. Perhaps it assumed my vehicle can safety navigate the floodwaters?
Flooded street in Gruar Subdivision in Cainta, Rizal
Flooded A. Bonifacio Avenue in Cainta, Rizal towards Taytay, Rizal. This is the main avenue through the heart of Cainta.
Flooded streets in the area leading to Hunters ROTC Street. These residential areas are prone to flooding and children commonly play in the floodwaters – certainly at risk from getting sick from whatever it is in the waters.
This is Ortigas Avenue Extension and on the way up to Antipolo. This area wasn’t flooded before and residents attribute the floods to the high-rise residential buildings and commercial development in the area. That’s actually a lot of run-off not absorbed by a drainage system that’s supposed to have been constructed with the developments. Did the local government of Taytay, Rizal make an evaluation of this before approving the projects?
Is there an end to this flood problem? Are the solutions really being implemented or, as we’ve learned the past so many months, are we being taken for a ride by our so-called leaders and agencies that are supposed to address these problems. People are supposed to be tired of the resilience story being peddled by politicians but the clamor seems to be in social media only and the real people who are lobbying for solutions have to contend with trolls who are also peddling their own narrative for their masters.
–
Congestion Costing Reality Check, Part 1: Congestion evaluation best practices
Here’s a quick share of an article from Todd Litman on congestion evaluation:
Widely cited studies claim that traffic congestion is a huge and growing problem. They exaggerate. Let’s examine how to correctly calculate congestion costs and roadway expansion benefits.
Source: Congestion Costing Reality Check, Part 1: Congestion evaluation best practices
Congested Katipunan again
During the Christmas break, we were reminded just how Katipunan Avenue can be congested due to the trips generated by the institutions along it. These are mainly the schools such as Ateneo, Miriam and UP. Based on my observations and experiences over the past decades though (I started attending UP in the late 1980s), the main culprit is Ateneo with all the private vehicles it generates for its students in all levels (Grade School, High School and College).
What “normal” traffic looks like on a typical weekday along Katipunan Avenue
My commute during the break is usually under 1 hour (e.g,, 40-50 minutes). But during the times when there’s school, it’s always more than an hour (e.g., 75 to 105 minutes). Will the situation improve? Will there be a mass transit system along C-5 to alleviate the traffic conditions? We can probably hope so but it doesn’t seem to be in the near horizon right now. The Metro Manila subway, after all, is expected to be operational in the 2030s!
–
Ortigas Avenue Extension counterflow
One traffic scheme that has been constant along Ortigas Avenue Extension is the counterflow scheme. The scheme is applied in the mornings for westbound (outbound from Rizal) traffic. It has been implemented for as long as I can remember; perhaps since the early 1980s. One variant before was a form of “Buhos” where eastbound traffic is stopped for several minutes at certain intervals (6:30am, 7:00am, 7:30am and so on), and westbound traffic is allowed to take all the available lanes during the periods.
Considering this scheme has been implemented for more than 4 decades now, there must be some measure of effectiveness there. It is an example where the directional distribution during the peak hours allow for such scheme to be implemented. Note that the scheme pre dates number coding and similar counterflow schemes elsewhere in other major roads in Metro Manila (correct me if I’m wrong).
The scheme though only shows that there should have been a better transport system put in place along the corridor, which has had a steady growth in travel demand. There should have already been a transit line along this corridor a long time ago. What happened? Was it not in the government’s radar? There was a line proposed and shown in various master plans before.
–
On the chronic congestion along Ortigas Avenue Extension
I previously wrote about the counterflow scheme along Ortigas Avenue Extension. While this is usually implemented during the mornings. A similar scheme is not applied in the afternoons or evenings. Apparently, the directional distribution in the afternoons and evenings is not suitable for a counterflow scheme. The photos below show the typical eastbound traffic as seen from the Manggahan Floodway bridge.
Typical weekday evening traffic along Ortigas Avenue Extension
The photos show that the traffic along the opposing direction (westbound) is as heavy as the eastbound traffic. This means a counterflow scheme similar to that in the mornings cannot be implemented during this period.
I have mentioned in the previous article that the corridor already required a mass transit system since the 1980s. Despite the operations of several bus companies over the past decades, these have not been enough (together with jeepneys and vans) to serve the demand along the corridor. It is not uncommon to find so many people stranded along the corridor and waiting to get a ride even during the early mornings. While Lines 2, 3 and 7 were being constructed, people in Rizal who have long endured the traffic along Ortigas Avenue Extension could only wonder why a transit system has not been provided for them. Will the proposed Line 4 be finally constructed? When will it be completed? What could be the traffic impacts of construction considering the limited space available for the construction? Should commuters prepare for more miserable travel once construction is underway?
–
After getting engrossed with EDSA, is Marcos Highway next?
If you monitored the news articles and social media post over the past two decades, there seems to be an obsession for EDSA. Circumferential Road 4 is the busiest corridor in Metro Manila, stretching across several jurisdictions including Caloocan, Quezon City, Mandaluyong, Makati and Pasay City. Aside from the MMDA, national agencies like the DPWH and DOTr have been heavily involved in traffic schemes and transportation infrastructure development along the corridor. These include variants of the travel demand management (TDM) scheme commonly called number coding. Since the 1990s, there’s the Line 3 and several overpasses/flyovers and underpass that have been constructed along major intersections (e.g., EDSA-Shaw, EDSA-Ortigas, EDSA-Kamuning, EDSA-Quezon Avenue, etc.). Nowadays, people are more into the EDSA carousel and most recently the pavement rehabilitation for EDSA. It seems we failed to realize that EDSA is just one corridor. There are others that also demand attention including those in other parts of the country.
Recently, a “carmaggedon” along Marcos Highway was in the headlines or shall I say was trending in social media. There was a lot of excitement for what has been a recurring nightmare to those residing along the corridor. I recall something worse occurred more than 15 years ago (pre-Ondoy), before social media and influencers and digital creators. At the time, Line 2 terminated at Santolan Station. And even back then, the MMDA insisted on playing with their U-turn scheme. I don’t recall a more in-depth study that could have involved micro-simulation modeling being done for the corridor. And since then, populations and traffic have grown steadily and as I’ve written about previously, the extension of Line 2 to Masinag seems to have had little impact on traffic. And so here we are with the MMDA still insisting on tweaking their U-turn schemes and relying mainly on gut-feel instead of a more scientific approach that may actually lead to more sound solutions for the corridor.
Approach to Marcos Highway from Felix Avenue – that’s the elevated Line 2 superstructure behind the Cainta arch.
Intersection of Marcos Highway, Felix Avenue and Gil Fernando Avenue – there’s a major foot bridge installed here so people can cross at the intersection, which used to be a signalized junction before the MMDA opted for U-turns for Marcos Highway sections under its jurisdiction.
Marcos Highway section fronting the Ayala Feliz Mall – the MMDA has played with the location of the U-turn slots in the vicinity of the Marcos Highway-Amang Rodriguez-J.P. Rizal intersection as they tried to determine the “optimum” locations of these slots.
Of course, there is also the case of Commonwealth Avenue. How many carmaggedons have occurred along that corridor? Isn’t it an everyday thing there? And there’s also Ortigas Avenue Extension and many other roads and streets where congestion seems to have been accepted as the norm. How do we make travel easier for most people? How do we improve commutes given the constraints and realities concerning behavior and choices?
–
Complicated intersections in Rizal – Tikling Junction
There are several major intersections in Rizal Province. Among them are 3 junctions in Cainta, Taytay and Antipolo – Cainta Junction (Ortigas Ave Ext.-Felix Ave), Masinag Junction (Marcos Highway-Sumulong Highway), and Tikling or Kaytikling Junction. The first two are signalized intersections. The last one is supposed to be a roundabout. All three are problematic in various ways and have been associated with congestion along the major roads intersecting at these junctions.
Tikling is quite interesting as traffic seems to have worsened after it was set up as a roundabout. Taytay enforcers have been deployed here but they seem to contribute more to worsening congestion rather than easing it. Motorists familiar with the area will tell you that traffic is better when there are no enforcers. Unfortunately, not all motorists here are from the area or are familiar with the rules for navigating or positioning at a roundabout. And so the intersection is often constricted with vehicles whose drivers and riders don’t practice courtesy.
Perhaps a combination of geometric improvements and more clever enforcement/management can improve intersection performance?
–
