To residents of Quezon City and to motorists who frequent Commonwealth Avenue, take note: The city government and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) are looking into implementing a zipper lane and road diversion along the thoroughfare.
This is to help alleviate the heavy traffic in the vicinity caused by the ongoing infrastructure projects, including the MRT-7 construction.
“Since the MRT-7 construction in the Elliptical Road-North Avenue interchange will be extended for another two months, we will have to devise ways to ease up the flow of traffic especially after the holiday season,” said Quezon City mayor Joy Belmonte.
The city government and the MMDA will conduct a dry run of the new traffic scheme from 6am to 11am on December 31, 2020 to January 3, 2021. The proposed zipper lane will be opened near Luzon Avenue-Tandang Sora Avenue area and will end at the corner of Commonwealth Avenue eastbound and University Avenue leading to the University of the Philippines–Diliman campus. Then, on January 2, 2021, another entrance to the zipper lane will be opened in front of the UP-Ayala Technohub.
The new traffic scheme is supposedly aimed at providing motorists with an alternative route.
“Instead of going through the traffic in the Philcoa area westbound, entering the Elliptical Road, all the way to North Avenue, motorists can use the zipper lane and go directly to C.P. Garcia,” said assistant city administrator Alberto Kimpo.
As for motorists coming from Elliptical Road, they will have to turn right toward University Avenue and make a U-turn at the C.P. Garcia Avenue intersection to re-enter Commonwealth Avenue.
Now, we’re not sure how exactly the dry run can gauge the actual effects of the new scheme on the usual traffic in the area since half of it falls on holidays. That said, we’re still hoping this would help improve the situation along Commonwealth Avenue.
