First of all, Barangay 4 is composed of just four city blocks,
defined and bounded by the following streets:
T. Chaves St. in the north, Hayes St in the south, N. Capistrano in the
West, and Pabayo St. in the East. During
the last barangay elections it had a total of 280 registered voters, which by
the way in no way reflects the total number of actual residents of the
barangay.
In spite of the insignificance of its size, it is a very
critical barangay because of its location and the amount of traffic that daily
uses its constricted streets and jammed intersections. Consisting of a combination of vehicular and
pedestrian traffic from both private and public utility sectors.
This morning at 6am, I took a quick walking tour around our
smallish barangay to highlight its size and its many intersections, a total of
10, which are heavily trafficked during the day. After all, busy Divisoria Park is only a
block away going north. As noticed, at
this early hour, we may think it is a section of a sleepy town. But do not be deceived. During peak hours it is a beehive of frenzied
activities.
What stood out in observation was the stark absence of
pedestrian lanes or crosswalks, except for one very faded and almost
completely-erased one across A. Velez Street in its intersection with Hayes.
While Divisoria Park gets most of the current attention for
the city drive to bring law and order in our streets, hardly any is given to
the surrounding areas. At least that is
what we noticed, apart from the retinue of RTA personnel during critical hours
during the day.
This to me is a big travesty, or less harshly, a big
oversight, or maybe a very glaring sign of the shallowness of the city drive
for orderly traffic. It is earnestly hoped
that this is not likened to a PR stunt or that this administration is just
going through the motions of showing nodding compliance with certain election promises,
as others would allege.
We expect pedestrians to follow a few simple rules in the use
of our streets, like making use of pedestrian lanes, while at the same time we
blatantly neglect to provide simple pedestrian lanes in streets around this
park. This results in total confusion,
as we are wont to see in these streets.
To the point that penalty-averse pedestrians have to ask RTA personnel
where to cross in the absence of lanes.
And yet we emphatically bring forth the notion of and law about
jaywalking. Talk about conflicting or
confusing messages.
Thus, on the positive side, wouldn’t it be nice if the city
in cooperation and coordination with the affected barangays in the area, could address
the issue of absence of pedestrian lanes in these crucial intersections?
For one, our barangay eagerly waits for any inspiration and
guidance from our city administrators. We eagerly await for their first move and I
am confident that we are ready to assist.
Please show us the way.
To supplement the above video, here is a picture gallery below as the walking tour continued to complete the roundabout walking tour:
To supplement the above video, here is a picture gallery below as the walking tour continued to complete the roundabout walking tour:
