Vince Dizon on EDSA rehabilitation: Wider sidewalks, smoother ride ensured

Commuters may expect wider sidewalks and motorists will have a smoother ride throughout EDSA once its rehabilitation is finished by next year, Public Works and Highways Secretary Vince Dizon said Monday.

"Buong stretch ng EDSA mula south hanggang Monumento lalaparan natin 'yung sidewalk para sa mga kababayan natin," Dizon said in an interview on Unang Balita after inspecting the EDSA-Buendia area.

(On the whole stretch of EDSA from the south until Monumento, we will widen the sidewalk for our countrymen.)

He also said the asphalt being used on EDSA is of good quality, at par with that being used in other countries like Japan and Korea.

"Ongoing ang Phase 2 (ng EDSA rehabilitation) mula Guadalupe Orense hanggang Monumento. Ngayon nagtatrabaho tayo sa Monumento side. Kanina ininspeksiyon ko 'yung bandang Boni papunta ng Shaw Boulevard, nag-aayos na rin tayo diyan. By next year, tingin ko, tapos na ito," Dizon said.

(Phase 2 [of EDSA rehabilitation] from Guadalupe Orense to Monumento is ongoing. We are working on the Monumento side. Earlier, I inspected the area [of EDSA] from Boni [Avenue] toward Shaw Boulevard as we are working there too. By next year, I think we will be finished.)

Sidewalks

Dizon said he walked on EDSA near Buendia with Transportation Secretary Giovanni "Banoy" Lopez last year and saw for themselves how narrow the sidewalk was for commuters to walk on.

"Last year naglakad kami dito with Sec. Banoy and nakita natin na kawawa talaga 'yung mga kababayan natin na nagco-commute at saka ang mga naglalakad. Kasi maraming, lingid sa kaalaman ng mga kababayan nating motorista, ang daming naglalakad sa EDSA eh. Ang problema, walang lalakaran," he said.

(Last year, Sec. Banoy and I walked here and we saw that our commuters are having a hard time walking here. Motorists may not know this, but there are many who walk on EDSA. The problem is, there is no adequate walkway.)

"Dito lang sa area na ito dito sa Buendia Station, halos wala na 'yan eh. Kung bumaba ka ng Buendia MRT, baba ka dito, wala kang .. Halos dinoble natin 'yung lawak (ng sidewalk) para may lalakaran 'yung mga kababayan natin," Dizon said.

(For instance, here at Buendia Station area. There is hardly any sidewalk. If you down from the Buendia MRT and go down here, there is not enough space for you to walk on... We doubled the sidewalk area so our countrymen will have enough space to walk on.)

"Pati siklista natin puwedeng dito na rin mag-bike para hindi na rin sila delikado sa mga motor at saka mga sasakyan," he said.

(Even cyclists, they can bike here on the sidewalk, and that would be safer for them away from motorcycles and motorists.)

"Pati itong sidewalk, ang buong EDSA kung ano ang nakikita ng mga kababayan natin dito ngayon, ganito ang magiging sidewalk ng buong EDSA," Dizon said.

(What you see here now on this sidewalk, this is what sidewalks on the entire EDSA would look like.)

Asphalt on road

Dizon also said they want to ensure that motorists will be able to travel faster on EDSA via the use of high quality asphalt for overlay and improvement of the drainage system.

"Unang una, de kalidad na aspalto ang ginagamit natin, 'yung matibay kamukha nang ginagamit ng mas mayayamang bansa tulad ng Japan ng Korea. 'Yun na 'yung ni-require natin na standard dito," he said.

(First, we are using high quality asphalt, the sturdy one like that being used by more prosperous countries like Japan and Korea. That's what we required as standard.)

"Ikalawa, ang kalaban kasi ng aspalto, tubig. Itong mga inlet, basta 'yung pasukan ng tubig, maliliit kasi 'yung mga inlet dito sa EDSA at sa mga ibang national road natin. Ang gagawin natin, dodoblehin, titriplehin natin para 'yung kunyari magka-flash flood o malakas na ulan, mabilis na malalabas papasok sa drainage. Hindi masyadong masisira nang mabilis 'yung ating aspalto," Dizon said.

(Second, water destroys asphalt. The inlets here on EDSA and other national roads are small. What we will do is double, triple these so that in case there is flash flood or heavy rain, the water will go to the drainage faster. The asphalt will not be damaged as fast as before.)

"So 'yung mga 'yon ginagawa natin para talagang tumagal ang aspaltong nilalagay natin. Mas maginhawa ang biyahe. Mas mabilis din. Bibilis 'yan kasi dati lubak-lubak," he added.

(So that's what we will do to make the asphalt last longer. As a result, motorists will have a smoother ride, a faster one since there won't be any potholes anymore.)

Mass transport

Dizon also said to decongest EDSA, mass transport has to be improved.

"Ang importante talaga, ang makakapagpaluwag sa EDSA, 'yung mass transport. So kailangan talagang padamihin ang bus sa busway natin, padamihin ang tren natin sa MRT na kaya naman gawin ng DOTr (Department of Transportation) at gagawin naman," he said.

(What's important and what will help decongest EDSA is the mass transport. So we need to add more buses to the busway and more trains to the MRT, which the DOTr can do and will do.)

"Importante din 'yung motorista natin, kombinyente ang biyahe niya at maiiwasan natin 'yung pagtagal ng tubig at 'yung pagbaba," Dizon said.

(It's also important so motorists can experience convenience in traveling and we can avoid the slow drainage of water.)

Infra projects full speed ahead, corruption-free

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) secretary then assured the public that infrastructure projects will now be on full speed ahead with no trace of corruption.

"Rarantsada na tayo (we'll go on full speed ahead)," Dizon said.

"Ang nangyari talaga diyan, nu'ng nakaraang mga taon at dekada, naglalagay ng proyekto sa budget, nagpapa-bid ng proyekto na walang papeles. 'Di ba nakita nga natin noong nag-iinspeksyon tayo ng mga maanomalyang flood control, naghahanap ng plano si presidente, walang mai-produce na plano. Kasi nga hindi ganu'n ang ginagawa eh," he said.

(What happened before, in the past years and decades, allocations for funds for projects were included in the budget and bidding activities were done without the adequate documents. Isn't it when we inspected anomalous flood control projects before, the president was looking for plans? No plan could be produced because there wasn't any.)

"Isipin mo, gagawa ka ng proyekto, magpapa-bid ka, walang plano. Ngayon hindi na pupuwede 'yon. Sabi ng pangulo natin, kailangan lahat ng required documents, lahat ng mga plano, kompleto," Dizon said.

(Imagine that, you will do a project and call for a bidding without a plan. That is not allowed anymore. Our president said all required documents, plans should be complete.)

"'Yon, siyempre may oras na kasama 'yon. Pero masisigurado natin ngayon na maayos ang pagbi-bid natin, maayos ang budgeting. Pero 'yan, natapos na 'yan lahat. Ngayon, ratsada na, tuloy-tuloy na tayo," he said.

(Of course that would take time. But we can assure the public now that the bidding is above board, and so is the budgeting. So we finished all that. Now we can go full speed ahead.)

"'Yan po ang maa-assure natin sa mga kababayan natin (na walang corruption) kasi talagang binabantayan natin at makikita nila sa trabaho. Ngayon, makikita natin," Dizon said.

(That's what we can assure the public, that there is no corruption because we are closely monitoring this and you can see that in the result.)

The DPWH official cited the drainage and flood control project on G. Araneta Avenue in Quezon City which has helped lessen the extent of flooding in the area.

"Halimbawa 'no, 'yung mga inayos nating mga drainage at flood control sa G. Araneta. Ang mga kababayan mismo natin na ang nagsasabi na konti na lang ang pagbaha doon. Eh dati hanggang lampas tao diyan," Dizon said.

(For instance, we fixed the drainage and flood control on G. Araneta. The people themselves are the ones saying that the flooding now is lesser as compared before. Floodwaters would reach over an average man's height before.)

"So ganu'ng klase ang mga proyekto na gustong mangyari ng ating pangulo na kapag, sabi nga niya, kapag ginamit nang tama at hindi ninanakaw ang pondo, nagbebenepisyo talaga ang mga kababayan natin," he added.

(So that's the kind of projects our president wants, wherein if funds are used well and not stolen, it's the public that would benefit.) —KG, GMA News