WITHOUT doubt, shopping malls are big contributors to Metro Manila’s traffic problem because of private and public vehicles that take shoppers and mall goers to and from them. And the bigger the mall, the bigger the traffic problem it usually creates.
So much so that a Quezon City lawmaker has noticed these traffic-causing phenomena and urged them to take steps to improve the flow of vehicles in their environs.
Last week, Quezon City Rep. Winnie Castelo urged mall owners to ease vehicular traffic by providing space for “road setback” (basically, an additional lane on private property) that would serve as extra roadway for public utility vehicles and private vehicles to service boarding or alighting passengers.
As it stands today, many malls have minimal road setback areas (or none at all), leaving vehicles with no option but to use public roads for traffic-causing loading and unloading activities.
“It would just take minor road work on the part of the malls to contribute considerably to ease traffic,” Castelo said. “Apparently, congestion is heavier where there is a mall. However, it’s not like the mall owners are at the mercy of this situation. By providing minimal horizontal work, they can effectively ease traffic.”
And which malls are on the lawmaker’s traffic congestion list?
“Empirical data show that, on account of the lack of road setbacks, traffic congestion is heavy in the following mall sites: Ayala Uptown Mall in Katipunan, Fisher Mall in Quezon Avenue and Fairview Mall in Regalado Street, Quezon City,” Castelo said.
On the other hand, which malls are worthy of emulation, according to the Quezon City solon?
“It is observed in SM Novaliches, SM San Mateo and SM Megamall, which all have road setbacks, that there is smooth flow of traffic in their respective areas,” Castelo said. “If SM can do it, I see no reason for other malls not to follow suit.”
In line with this, the lawmaker intends to file a bill requiring all local government units to mandate malls in high-vehicle volume routes to provide road setbacks or additional lanes for vehicular traffic.
Take heed, mall developers. Daxim L. Lucas
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
