EDSA 2? A second level on EDSA, that is

EDSA’s daily gridlock. FILE PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE, PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER

TO significantly increase the capacity of EDSA, why not build a 10-lane elevated expressway over it?

This was the proposal forwarded on Wednesday by food, drinks and infrastructure conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC), according to a report published Thursday in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. The envisioned expressway, noted SMC president Ramon S. Ang, will be made of steel and will span the entire length of Metro Manila’s main thoroughfare, the report said.

It added the high volume of vehicles and the inefficient mass transit systems make EDSA the site of constant gridlocks.

Ang said the plan to build the elevated road on EDSA would proceed with the P745-billion international airport in Bulacan province, another SMC project that will also help ease Manila’s congestion, according to the Inquirer report.

“We talked with Secretary [Arthur] Tugade to build an elevated EDSA,” Ang said, referring to the country’s Transportation chief.

Ang said the elevated road could be extended all the way to the Cavite Expressway in southern Metro Manila. He added that the project, once approved by the government, could be finished in 24 to 30 months, the Inquirer quoted the executive as saying.

The report said SMC’s elevated EDSA road can also host a dedicated bus rapid transit system that can carry up to 1.5 million passengers a day.

The SMC proposal will be submitted soon, possibly as early as next week, the Inquirer said.