With any luck there is a slim chance that Public Works Secretary Mark Villar’s dream of opening a portion of Skyway Stage 3 Section 1 (Buendia to Quirino Ave./Plaza Dilao) in time for the 2018-2019 school year will happen.
But before one starts whooping for joy, all have to consider the following:
Section 1 only has a northbound traffic on-ramp from Osmena Highway at-grade somewhere around Buendia;
the same section only has a southbound off-ramp to the front of Cash & Carry;
the long northbound Quirino Ave. to Skyway Stage 3 on-ramp won’t be finished by June;
ditto also for the Nagtahan southbound on-ramp from Plaza Dilao to elevated Skyway Stage 3;
there are no provisions for temporary ramps along Section 1; and
no other off ramps are planned on this section and neither would there be any space for temporary ramps
Now, what all the above indicates is that even if Villar is able to inaugurate Skyway Stage 3 Section 1 in June, northbound traffic from Skyway Stage 1 beyond the Makati CBD exit has nowhere to go. To be precise, no other way to return to the at-grade section of Osmena Highway, much less Quirino Ave. By the same token, at-grade traffic on Osmena Highway southbound has no way to gain access to the elevated Stage 3 except the old way south of Buendia.
So until the aforelisted on-ramps and the off-ramps at Nagtahan and the much-delayed Section 2 are finished, opening Stage 3 in June may well end up as a well-paved, well-lit 3.8 kilometers of elevated expressway with zero traffic use at all. Any use of Section 1 will have to wait for off ramps and on ramps at Plaza Dilao.
But it need not be so. A portion of the finished Section 01 can still be used to alleviate traffic at OsmenaHighway, Buendia and several streets parallel and intersecting Buendia.
Our proposal: To alleviate the massive bunching of traffic on the northbound lanes of elevated Skyway Stage 1 and Osmena Highway (Skyway at-grade) due to the traffic signals under and around the Buendia flyover, traffic heading for Manila and Pasay using Buendia will proceed on the Skyway elevated, going past the Don Bosco, CBD and Buendia exit off ramps.
Proceeding north along Stage 3, traffic will make a U-turn at the widest portion of the toll plaza apron. Multi lane U-turns channeled by orange plastic bollards will be arranged by SOMCO.
Traffic now proceeds to the off-ramp that leads to the at-grade service road, southbound at the Cash & Carry vicinity. Traffic can now proceed to Buendia, either to Makati or Manila, following the at-grade traffic lights at the Buendia-Osmena Highway junction.
Adjustments to traffic light cycles must be studied as traffic flow will be redistributed.
The routine traffic pattern of the at-grade southbound Osmena highway approaching the Buendia traffic signals will have to be adjusted as there is an increase of vehicles coming down the Stage 3 off ramp.
A rotunda or roundabout circulatory continuous flow (no red light) system can be considered for the at-grade section of Buendia-Osmena Highway, encompassing all the 4 crosswise streets parallel to Buendia.
To alleviate the post-lunch hour southbound traffic, the northbound elevated Stage 3 on-ramp at Buendia will open to accommodate vehicles heading for NAIAx and points further south on Skwyay-SLEx. These vehicles will also filter through the toll plaza U-turn lanes to resume southward travel on the elevated Skyway Stage 1.
Our traffic-relieving proposals coming up soon: Changing traffic patterns on both SLEx service roads, C-5, Merville, Quirino Highway and Cavitex when the C-5-Cavitex link is inaugurated later this year and by 1st quarter 2019; and changing traffic patterns at Sta. Rosa-Tagaytay Road when the first 7.0 kms of CALAx from SLEx Mamplasan opens straight into the heart of the West Grove and Nuvali townships.
Tito F. HERMOSO is Autoindustriya’s INSIDE MAN
Send comments to tfhermoso@yahoo.com
But before one starts whooping for joy, all have to consider the following:
Section 1 only has a northbound traffic on-ramp from Osmena Highway at-grade somewhere around Buendia;
the same section only has a southbound off-ramp to the front of Cash & Carry;
the long northbound Quirino Ave. to Skyway Stage 3 on-ramp won’t be finished by June;
ditto also for the Nagtahan southbound on-ramp from Plaza Dilao to elevated Skyway Stage 3;
there are no provisions for temporary ramps along Section 1; and
no other off ramps are planned on this section and neither would there be any space for temporary ramps
Now, what all the above indicates is that even if Villar is able to inaugurate Skyway Stage 3 Section 1 in June, northbound traffic from Skyway Stage 1 beyond the Makati CBD exit has nowhere to go. To be precise, no other way to return to the at-grade section of Osmena Highway, much less Quirino Ave. By the same token, at-grade traffic on Osmena Highway southbound has no way to gain access to the elevated Stage 3 except the old way south of Buendia.
So until the aforelisted on-ramps and the off-ramps at Nagtahan and the much-delayed Section 2 are finished, opening Stage 3 in June may well end up as a well-paved, well-lit 3.8 kilometers of elevated expressway with zero traffic use at all. Any use of Section 1 will have to wait for off ramps and on ramps at Plaza Dilao.
But it need not be so. A portion of the finished Section 01 can still be used to alleviate traffic at OsmenaHighway, Buendia and several streets parallel and intersecting Buendia.
Our proposal: To alleviate the massive bunching of traffic on the northbound lanes of elevated Skyway Stage 1 and Osmena Highway (Skyway at-grade) due to the traffic signals under and around the Buendia flyover, traffic heading for Manila and Pasay using Buendia will proceed on the Skyway elevated, going past the Don Bosco, CBD and Buendia exit off ramps.
Proceeding north along Stage 3, traffic will make a U-turn at the widest portion of the toll plaza apron. Multi lane U-turns channeled by orange plastic bollards will be arranged by SOMCO.
Traffic now proceeds to the off-ramp that leads to the at-grade service road, southbound at the Cash & Carry vicinity. Traffic can now proceed to Buendia, either to Makati or Manila, following the at-grade traffic lights at the Buendia-Osmena Highway junction.
Adjustments to traffic light cycles must be studied as traffic flow will be redistributed.
The routine traffic pattern of the at-grade southbound Osmena highway approaching the Buendia traffic signals will have to be adjusted as there is an increase of vehicles coming down the Stage 3 off ramp.
A rotunda or roundabout circulatory continuous flow (no red light) system can be considered for the at-grade section of Buendia-Osmena Highway, encompassing all the 4 crosswise streets parallel to Buendia.
To alleviate the post-lunch hour southbound traffic, the northbound elevated Stage 3 on-ramp at Buendia will open to accommodate vehicles heading for NAIAx and points further south on Skwyay-SLEx. These vehicles will also filter through the toll plaza U-turn lanes to resume southward travel on the elevated Skyway Stage 1.
Our traffic-relieving proposals coming up soon: Changing traffic patterns on both SLEx service roads, C-5, Merville, Quirino Highway and Cavitex when the C-5-Cavitex link is inaugurated later this year and by 1st quarter 2019; and changing traffic patterns at Sta. Rosa-Tagaytay Road when the first 7.0 kms of CALAx from SLEx Mamplasan opens straight into the heart of the West Grove and Nuvali townships.
Tito F. HERMOSO is Autoindustriya’s INSIDE MAN
Send comments to tfhermoso@yahoo.com
