After a series of delays and a ton of rescheduling, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) finally opened the Binondo-Intramuros Bridge to the public on April 5. 2022.
Like many of you, we were curious to see more of it. Not just because of how it looks, but also because of how it can actually affect traffic in the two busy districts in Manila City. So, we went ahead and rode to the area to see the bridge for ourselves.
We recently shared the footage on our Facebook page. You can check it out below:
Binondo-Intramuros Bridge drive-by
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The bridge may look nice from afar, but frankly, it still needs some work. For starters, the protected sidewalks on both Binondo- and Intramuros-bound portions have yet to be finished. We’re getting some BGC-Ortigas Bridge flashbacks here.
In addition, while the bridge has two lanes on either side, the access points are basically bottleneck areas. The on-ramp on the Binondo side can be a bit tricky to get to if you’re not familiar with the area, and it looks like the size of the roads leading to it could easily get clogged during rush hour as well. The area around the Intramuros off-ramp has a lot more space to work with, though.
As for getting to Binondo from Intramuros, well, that’s going to be way trickier. At the moment, the on-ramp can only be accessed through a narrow alley right beside the National Press Club of the Philippines. Without any signage whatsoever, it was difficult to locate the tiny road. The exit, meanwhile, leads to a two-lane street where traffic could also potentially build up during peak hours.
Then again, it remains to be seen just how exactly the new Binondo-Intramuros Bridge can affect traffic in the area. By the looks of it, there are still a lot of ongoing roadworks, so we could be seeing further improvements soon enough. Perhaps when traffic finally return to normal and construction is 100% complete, we can make a proper assessment.
