Pedestrian

More than two years after it was constructed in time for the 2004 elections, the pedestrian overpass in Commonwealth corner Tandang Sora Avenues, was finally finished sometime last month.

Surprisingly, unlike usual government projects, no billboard plastered with a politician's face is proudly claiming credit for the long-overdue project. So knowing how much it actually cost will be daunting...

The project is a blight in the eye no matter what perspective you look at it; it has added to the aesthetic degradation of the area - I still remember seeing the mountains of Bulacan upon the descent from the INC area into the intersection - I was already traversing the highway in the early 80's when I lived with my grandmother in Fairview and went to school in Pasay City.

I've been living in the area for ten years now eversince I was employed in a tv network in the area. I've been witness since then to the area's metamorphosis from being ugly to now being very ugly...

Aside for marring the horizon, the pedestrian project's steel structure is flawed in every aspect. The ladder from the Old Balara side, which is on the right side going to Fairview from Philcoa, was constructed in front of the KFC entrance and runs directly into power and phone lines. The lines even cut the center aisle while other wires dangle just beside the railings. On the Culiat side, two transformers dangle right beside the railings too.


What is even worse, the ladder for the Culiat side, the one beside the 7-11 branch which is also constructed in front of another foodmart, goes down precariously to a narrow step just beside a deep trench that is a driveway of a private property.

When I took these pictures, the whole pedestrian overpass was very slippery because puddles of water were collecting all over the elevated walkway since the whole project has simply no roof. You have to build a project like this, you have to complete it as it is only logical to do so.

But then again, that may be too much of a stretch for the honorable politician who sponsored the project. Considering how long it took to get done, most of the funds would have been used up then, leaving insufficient money for building the roof as well as the proper ladder landings for the pedestrians.

It only goes to show how the MMDA gives importance to the plight of Filipino pedestrians. Surprisingly, the MMDA has expended more time, money and effort for the hideous wire fences along portions of Commonwealth and Tandang Sora Avenues, rather than completing or putting finishing touches to the equally hideous pedestrian overpass.

I admit though that using it beats having to play the deadly dodge game everyday with the murderous buses and jeepneys who ply the busy intersection. But a host of accidents waiting to happen also awaits the hapless pedestrian who uses the pedestrian overpass.

I can only shake my head in disbelief at the turn of events in this area I've called my home for the last ten years, ever since I got employed in Broadcast City.

In the past decade, I've seen the area go through countless changes in terms of road-related projects. This area is a politician's paradise - I've lost count how many times the pedestrian islands here have been shaped and reshaped (now they're all gone) and how the narrow two-lane avenue connecting Tandang Sora up until Katipunan Avenue has been dug up and reworked etc...

But the typical pedestrian's basic needs here are not even met. Sidewalks are barely navigable; what's left are eaten up as parking space by waiting tricycles or are obstructed by unscrupulous homeowners or business establishments. There are no decent waiting sheds; pedestrians waiting for transport on either side of Commonwealth Avenue or Tandang Sora get soaked especially during bad weather. As Tandang Sora Avenue is a conduit to C5 via Katipunan Avenue, deadly trucks lord over the narrow street posing a danger to pedestrians here (many have met gruesome accidents here courtesy of these killer trucks).

The glaring lack of the government's attention to these little details only mean the welfare of pedestrians are not important to those running the country. Just imagine that this situation is replicated in varying degrees in countless other intersections all over the country. Until when do we hapless pedestrians suffer from this cursed fate only time can tell. Such is our lot for being proletariats in this banana republic earning third world rates with first world aspirations.