By Chito Chavez
Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte allayed fears of worsening traffic situation after the city government inked an agreement with the Manila North Tollways Corporation that would help alleviate the impact of the NLEX C-5 Link to the public.
Earlier, mounting complaints have bombarded local traffic authorities as portions of Congressional and Mindanao Avenues have been heavily congested amid the ongoing construction of the NLEX C-5 Link project.
Based on the agreement, Quezon City District 6 Representative Jose Christopher “Kit” Belmonte revealed that the right of way required for the project will be reduced from 90 to 60 meters.
He said the difference of 30 meters will be allocated for the in-city resettlement of those affected by the construction.
“With this proposed solution, the traffic along (Congressional Avenue and Mindanao Avenue) will be decongested dramatically, while at the same time addressing the displacement of project-affected families,” Belmonte said.
The lady mayor has established a task force to mitigate the impact of major infrastructure projects within the city.
Called Task Force Build 5, the team includes the Department of Transportation (DoTr), Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC), the National Housing Authority (NHA), and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
The Quezon City government also plans to construct mid- to high-rise socialized housing for the affected residents while allowing the private sector to get involved through Public-Private Partnership (PPP).
The NLEX C-5 Link, also known as Segment 8.2, will connect NLEX and C-5 through Mindanao and Republic Avenue.
The project aims to reduce travel time from Mindanao Avenue to Commonwealth from 45 to 10 minutes and will cut through seven Quezon City barangays and one barangay in Valenzuela.
Based on a census by the National Housing Authority (NHA), a total of 18,000 families will be affected by the construction, 60 percent of which are residents of Barangays Talipapa, Pasong Tamo, Culiat, and Sauyo in District 6.
https://news.mb.com.ph/2019/11/12/qc-manila-north-tollways-corp-agree-to-work-together-to-address-traffic-caused-by-nlex-c-5-link-project/
