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Meralco Avenue in Ortigas is closed to traffic for more than five years starting today, October 3, to give way to the construction of civil works for the Metro Manila Subway Project Ortigas and Shaw Boulevard station
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President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista led the ground-breaking ceremony for the project
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The road closure that will last until 2028 covers the front section of Capitol Commons up to the corner of Shaw Boulevard
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Motorists should take alternative routes provided by the Metro Manila Development Authority
Meralco Avenue is closed to motorists for more than five years starting today, Oct 3, as the Metro Manila Subway Project (MMSP) breaks ground for the Ortigas and Shaw Boulevard stations.
Groundbreaking was held at past 9 a.m. today with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. leading the ceremony, assisted by Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista.
The project is being funded by a ¥253.3 billion (P112.9 billion) loan from Japan.
Commuters and motorists coming from eastern Rizal towns reported traffics jams on the approach to Ortigas Center as they travelled to work this morning.
The Department of Transportation reminded motorists today about the road closure, which will last until 2028 and cover the front section of Capitol Commons up to the corner of Shaw Boulevard.
Meralco Avenue will serve as the project’s access point to the subway’s Shaw Boulevard Station.
The DOTr advised motorists to take alternative routes provided by the Metro Manila Development Authority, as follows:
- Public utility jeepneys (PUJs) – from Meralco Avenue going to Shaw Boulevard, they will be rerouted to Captain Henry Javier St. to Danny Floro St. and vice versa.
- Modernized jeepneys – from Meralco Avenue going to Shaw Boulevard, they will be rerouted to Doña Julia Vargas Avenue to San Miguel Avenue and vice versa
- UV Express vehicles/units – from Meralco Avenue going to Shaw Boulevard, these vehicles will be rerouted to Doña Julia Vargas Avenue to San Miguel Avenue or Anda Road to Camino Verde
- Private vehicles – they can access all available routes
The MMSP will be the first underground mass transit system in the Philippines and will become a modern railway system that will be at par with those in the rest in the world, DOTr said.
Funded by the Japanese government, the subway is a 33-kilometer rail line that will stretch from Valenzuela City to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 in Pasay City, reducing travel time between Quezon City and NAIA from 1 hour and 10 minutes to just 35 minutes. DOTr earlier said the MMSP will have 17 stations.
Once operational, the 33-km underground mass system will cut across eight cities in Metro Manila, passing three central business districts, and service up to 370,000 passengers daily.
On February 10, the Philippines and Japan signed a ¥253.3 billion (P112.9 billion) loan agreement for the second tranche of funding for the construction of the MMSP Phase 1. The first tranche of ¥104.53 billion (about P47.58 billion or US$933.73 million) was signed in March 2018.
