DOTr: Mitigating measures will be placed in case EDSA-North Avenue station temporarily closes

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) said Thursday that mitigating measures will be implemented should they approve the 30-day closure of the EDSA-North Avenue station to facilitate the completion of the Unified Grand Central Station that will link MRT-3 and LRT 1.

In a SuperRadyo dzBB interview, DOTr Undersecretary Timothy John Batan said Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade conducted an inspection of the common station project on Wednesday and discussed the contractor BF Corporation’s proposal of temporarily suspending the MRT-3 operations in EDSA-North Avenue station (southbound) for a month.

“Ang report ng ating contractor ay temporary suspension nang 30 days. Syempre maglalagay tayo ng mga pamamaraan, magi-implement tayo ng mitigating measures para hindi naman masyadong mahirapan ang ating affected na mga commuters,” Batan said.

(The report of our contractor is temporary suspension for 30 days. We will look for ways and implement mitigating measures so that our affected commuters will not be inconvenienced that much.)

He said should this closure take place, the last station would be Quezon Avenue. Commuters may then use the operational EDSA bus way that passes through the MRT-3 stations.

He added that DOTr is also looking at the possibility of diverting the routes in another place or decreasing the passable lanes in North Avenue as the construction of the central station is right above the roadway.

Currently, the construction work runs  from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. or for only five hours a day. Work in the middle of the day is very limited due to safety concerns, DOTr added.

“Itong mga tren natin during operation ay pumapasok sa loob ng common station construction area. Doon siya nag-tu-turn back. Doon po siya nagu-u-turn sa loob ng construction site ng common station at dahil po diyan ay nalilimitahan ‘yung construction time,” Batan said.

(Our trains enter the common station construction area during operation. It makes its u-turn there, making the construction time limited.)

“‘Yung common station po natin, ‘yung istraktura niya ay halos puro bakal at alam naman natin na ang nagpapatakbo ng MRT-3 natin ay ‘yung tinatawag nating overhead catenary line, so energized po ‘yan. Merong safety risks kung magsasabay ‘yung takbo ng tren at pati ‘yung construction ng common station,” he added.

(The structure of the common station is made of metals, and as we know, the MRT-3 is being run by the energized overhead catenary line. There are safety risks if the train operations are simultaneous with the construction of the common station.)

Batan asked for the consideration of the commuters and private passengers as this possible closure will only be temporary and once finished, will help ease the traffic particularly in the north portion of Metro Manila.

“Higit sampung taon na po natin hinihintay itong common station na makakapagpagaan ng commute ng ating mga commuters. 50% complete na po kami, one last thread na lang,” he added.

(We have been waiting for this common station for over 10 years now, that would ease the commute time. We are 50% complete now, just one last thread remaining.)

According to Batan, this closure will still depend on the recommendation of the contractor and their coordination with various local government units (LGUs), especially the Quezon City government.—AOL, GMA News