By Robert B. Roque, Jr.
Starting February 1, motorists should prepare for a challenging yet unavoidable reality: partial and full nighttime closures along EDSA near North Avenue and West Avenue in Quezon City, as MRT-7 construction enters one of its most demanding stages. These closures, which will last until May 19 between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m., will impact traffic flows from northern Metro Manila into Quezon City and farther south toward Pasig, Makati, BGC, and other business districts.
Let’s be honest — there’s absolutely nothing to sugarcoat about this situation. And like many of you, coming from Valenzuela, Caloocan, Novaliches, Projects 6 and 8, the one who drives for me belts out a groan so hard to ignore. There will be pain, long hours on the road, hassles, and frayed patience.
But this is also not a reckless disruption. Installing massive steel box girders for a rail line is not optional work, nor can it be done safely without carving out space for heavy equipment to move and operate.
As measures need to be in place to make the traffic situation controllably safe, the MMDA, Quezon City traffic units, and marshals from the MRT-7 contractor will be deployed. Zipper lanes will have to be opened. Still, traffic planners and enforcers can only do so much. At some point, road users — especially those driving private vehicles — must meet the system halfway: self-learn alternative routes, plan movements more efficiently, and make wise, intentional adjustments for the next four months.
If we want to get through this without losing our sanity, cooperation is not a suggestion; it is a necessity.
Employers and offices caught in the middle of this literal traffic situation should also be more understanding. This is a moment for flexibility — staggered hours, temporary telecommuting, hybrid arrangements — not rigid insistence on routines that only worsen congestion. Helping employees adjust also helps unclog the very roads that keep businesses running.
Some will inevitably ask: Why do commuters, office workers, motorists, and establishments always have to adjust? Let’s resist veering back into the near-hopeless cases of corruption and inept governance. We already know that story. This time, let’s be proactive.
MRT-7 is an actual solution to Metro Manila’s traffic misery — with its first phase operation foreseeable next year. I hear there’s a commitment to make 12 stations of the line serviceable, and these cover long areas plagued by punishing travel hours. At over 82% complete, this is no fantasy. Lending four months of patience is a small price to pay for years of mobility.
There are many things we deplore about this government. Let’s not confuse MRT-7 as one of them. I place real trust in the San Miguel Corporation–led consortium to deliver on quality and on time. Let this be a temporary sacrifice. And I call on the MRT-7 builders to prove that trust right.
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