An illustration of the new mabuhay lane connecting Greenhills and West Crame. Handout/Pamahalaang Lungsod ng San Juan

MANILA (UPDATED) -- The San Juan City government and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Monday inaugurated the new mabuhay lane in San Juan connecting West Crame and Greenhills.

This connector road will lead motorists from West Crame going to Quezon City area, Benitez, and EDSA and vice versa.

According to Mayor Francis Zamora of San Juan, the local government expropriated 2 privately-owned lots in the area to open this alternative route for motorists. 

Zamora said the city government bought the lots, which had a total area of 542 square meters, for P38 million.

“Ilang taon ko na po itong pinapangarap - mula noong naging mayor ako noong 2019, sapagkat naniniwala po ako na kung ang dating dead-end ng Eisenhower Street sa Bgy. Greenhills ay mabubuksan patagos po ng Bgy. West Crame at palabas ng Boni Serrano ay makakatulong po na maibsan ang problema ng traffic,” Zamora said.

(I've been dreaming of this since I became a mayor in 2019, because I believe the dead end in Eisenhower Street in Barangay Greenhills can be opened to West Crame and outwards into Boni Serrano to ease traffic.)

“As long as we can prove naman na the objective is for public purpose, nagagawa naman talaga (we can do it) within the power of local government - ito naman po ay makikita para sa (we can see that this is for the) general public,” Zamora added.

Eisenhower Street, according to Zamora, was previously a dead-end road, so motorists needed to use Club Filipino Drive and Annapolis.

MMDA chairman Atty. Romando Artes said he believes this connector road will help ease traffic congestion in the area.

“Matagal na po naming pangarap na mabuksan itong Eisenhower; in fact, ang initial pong proposal namin ay padaanin sa sementeryo sana para mabilis yung access, walang masyadong proseso in so far as expropriation is concerned," said Artes.

"Pero dahil magaling yung ating mayor ng San Juan, nabili niya po yung lupa na tinutumbok nitong Eisenhower at nabuksan po ito."

(We have been dreaming of opening up Eisenhower; in fact, our initial proposal was to make the road pass through the cemetery so expropriation won't take long. But our mayor is skillful, and was able to buy the lots.)

“Napaka-significant po at napakalaking epekto po nito sa ikaluluwag ng traffic dahil instead nga po na iikot ang mga sasakyan, madede-congest na po, lalong-lalo na po yung sa Greenhills area. Timely naman po, alam naman  natin - tuwing kapaskuhan, napakaraming namimili sa Greenhills,” Artes said.

(This is significant and will have a huge effect on reducing traffic congestion, especially in the Greenhills area. It's timely, especially as there are a lot who go shopping in Greenhills during Christmas.)

Since this connector road is already declared as a new Mabuhay Lane, Artes said parking of vehicles will be strictly prohibited.

"Ang penalty po niyan ‘pag attended ay P1,000, at P2,000 for pag unattended at after 5 minutes at wala pa po yung driver, hihilahin na po natin yan,” he said.

(The penalty is P1,000 for attended vehicles and P2,000 for the unattended ones. If the owner won't show up after 5 minutes, the vehicle will be towed.)

Artes said the MMDA will deploy additional traffic constables to different convergence areas, like bus terminals, this week.

“We expect itong weekend - going to the weekend, ito po yung last weekend before Christmas, so ine-expect natin na marami pa ring mamimili. So isa po yan sa binabantayan natin ay yung mga uuwi ng probinsiya,” Artes said.

(This is the last weekend before Christmas; we expect a lot of shoppers. We are also watching those who will go home to their provinces.)

MMDA’s latest vehicle volume count reached 464,000 and expected to reach 480,000 before Christmas.

“Kami po ay patuloy na nananawagan, lalo na po going to the weekend. Planuhin natin yung pagbiyahe, kung puwede po mag-pampublikong transportasyon tayo para makabawas ng sasakyan sa ating mga lansangan,” Artes added.

(We are appealing to the public to plan their travels, and to consider using public transportation this weekend.)