The newly unveiled southbound footbridge at the Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue (Edsa) and Gil Puyat Ave. (Buendia) intersection in Makati City is seen to help ease “pedestrian traffic” and make the area safe and “seamless” for commuters.

During its inauguration on Thursday, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chair Benjamin “Benhur” Abalos Jr. said the footbridge will serve people coming from and going to the Makati Central Business District, Bonifacio Global City, the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3), and the new loading and unloading bay for the Edsa Busway in the area.

“Buendia is one of the busiest intersections in terms of pedestrian traffic and having this overpass for them to use will make their trips easy, secured, and safe,” Abalos said.

He said the footbridge is connected to the existing MRT-3 pedestrian overpass and can be accessed from Makati Avenue and the southbound exit of the MRT-3 Buendia Station.

He said the new facility is the 125th footbridge built by the MMDA in the National Capital Region (NCR).

Meanwhile, he said vehicular speed along Edsa has slowed down to an average of 19 kilometers per hour (kph) from 23 kph during the previously enhanced community quarantine in NCR.

He said the MMDA is now studying the reimposition of the Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program in NCR, commonly called a number-coding or color-coding scheme to address the increasing volume of traffic along Edsa.

“If we recorded the pre-pandemic speed of 11kph, it is possible that we shall re-implement the number coding scheme but we are monitoring the traffic volume count and the speed every day,” Abalos said.

During the event, Abalos was joined by Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board Chairman Martin Delgra, Department of Transportation (DOTr) Assistant Secretary for Road Transport and Infrastructure Mark Steven Pastor, and Transport Assistant Secretary for Special Concerns and I-ACT Chief Manuel Gonzales. (PNA)