'Carless Sundays' on portion of Roxas Boulevard starts

A portion of Roxas Boulevard in Manila went carless on Sunday, as the local government said it wanted  residents to be healthier.

From 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. starting this Sunday, May 12, Roxas Boulevard from the corner of Quirino Avenue to Padre Burgos Avenue (northbound and southbound) will go carless, according to a report by Carlo Mateo on Super Radyo dzBB.

WATCH: Pagpapatupad ng "Carless Sunday" sa Roxas Blvd., Maynila tuwing Linggo, mula 5:00 am hanggang 9:00 am, umarangkada na ngayong araw. | via @SurfaceCarlo pic.twitter.com/LoK7JrahMl

— DZBB Super Radyo (@dzbb) May 11, 2024

The innermost lane is for bikers, while the other lanes are for joggers and walkers.

Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna said the health of Manileños and Filipinos is important, thus they thought of opening up Roxas Boulevard for those who want to exercise on Sunday mornings.

"Siyempre bilang isang doktora, ang ating pong priority ay ang kalusugan ng ating mga kapwa Manileño at siyempre mga kababayan nating Pilipino. So minabuti natin na ibalik 'yung dati nang kinaugalian dito sa Roxas Boulevard na tuwing Linggo ay sinasarado po ang north and southbound lane ng Roxas Boulevard para magamit ng ating mga kababayan para sa kanilang pag-eehersisyo," she said.

(Of course as a doctor, our priority is the health of our fellow Manileño and of course our fellow countrymen. So we thought it best to bring back what we had before, when northbound and southbound Roxas Boulevard was closed on Sundays so our countrymen will have venue for their exercise.)

A slight build-up of traffic was observed at the corner of Roxas Boulevard and Quirino Avenue. Motorists turned right to use the service road.

The local government said motorists may use the following alternate routes during carless Sundays:

For motorists going northbound: From Roxas Boulevard, turn right on Quirino Avenue to destination.

For motorists going southbound: Turn left on P. Burgos Avenue to destination.

From Jones Bridge, MacArthur Bridge and Quezon Avenue: Use Taft Avenue.

Trucks coming from Delpan: Make a U-turn then use Mel Lopez Boulevard northbound to C3 Road. —KG, GMA Integrated News