Gone are the days when I could reach Tagaytay in 45 minutes and another hour coming back. From 45 minutes, it became 1 hour and 15 minutes, then 1 hour and 30 minutes. This time, the fastest flow of traffic is two hours going and 3 hours coming home.
On September 1, I had to go to Tagaytay. I knew it would be traffic because it was a long weekend but I didn’t expect it to be that bad. It took us an hour from our house to Nuvali, plus two hours along Sta. Rosa – Tagaytay Road, then another hour to get past the Rotonda and Ayala Mall along Aguinaldo Highway.
Attention Garbage collectors: Madaling araw kayo mangulekta ng basura, hindi yung busy hour sasabay kayo. Hindi nyo ba alam na nakakaperwisyo kayo sa kapwa? Maaga kayong matulog at gumising ng maaga.
That mall is bad news. It’s too close to the main road. They placed a permanent barrier in the middle of the road but it doesn’t help at all.
Who spent for this expensive wrought iron fencing? The city or Ayala Mall?
New constructions of shopping malls and condominiums that are too close to the main road should not be allowed. Another example: Ayala Mall the 30th along Meralco Avenue in Pasig, SMDC’s Light and Wind condos along EDSA in Mandaluyong. They aggravate the already very bad traffic condition.
I do understand that land is gold in Metro Manila and mall and condo developers want to maximize every inch of their valuable land. But please, the worsening traffic conditions impact on the lives of millions of people. It wastes our valuable time and money too.
The Ayala Mall in Tagaytay sits on a huge land. They should not have been allowed to build too close to the highway. There are enough spaces to construct it away from the main road. They should have taken into consideration where the buses and jeepneys would stop in front of their mall. Where would people enter and exit without inconveniencing other motorists.
Local governments should update and revise their building codes and strictly implement minimum set backs for new constructions. For larger buildings and expected millions of foot traffic and thousands of vehicles, the setbacks must be tremendously adjusted. Foremost in your planning MUST BE the people’s welfare and convenience.
Government is tasked to provide the people (rich AND POOR) good basic conveniences like ROADS AND BRIDGES. Sidewalks must have minimum width standard and well paved so that people can safely walk along streets.
One of the things our government must work on is to improve the quality of life of its people.
