THE CITY Transport and Traffic Management Office (CTTMO) reported that vehicle congestion in some parts is due to the lack of coordination by the Department of Public Works and Highways contractors with their office.
Eduardo Perez, CTTMO Planning Division assistant chief, revealed that some road projects are immediately implemented even without proper coordination.
“The traffic generated by these resulted in delays and congested roads and intersections, (and) even damages our traffic facilities,” Perez said.
He added that to mitigate the traffic, the office provided personnel to act as marshals for ongoing road projects. The surprise implementation causes inconvenience since motorists are not informed ahead of time.
Perez emphasized they have no control over these contractors making it difficult for them to address traffic woes.
“The contractors have emphasized that they are only answerable to DPWH,” Perez added.
For instance, the official added some road crash incidents are attributed to contractors who fail to put up reflector signs.
To recall, the City Transport and Traffic Management Board (CTTMB) set guidelines last May 2023 covering road infra projects.
The guidelines recommend installing traffic advisory signage in critical areas and spreading information on digital platforms. The road project will only commence three days after information dissemination.
Contractors should also coordinate with telecommunication and utility companies, including the CTTMO traffic signal maintenance team. Lastly, they will provide an affidavit of undertaking committing to comply with the guidelines.
Removing the traffic management advisories and traffic control devices is prohibited until the project is finished.
Contractors who disregard and fail to comply with the guidelines will be issued citation tickets and face a fine of P2,000 for not acquiring permits in excavating or implementing road works; a P500 fine for drivers of contractors for traffic flow obstruction, and a notice of warning for failure to coordinate with CTTMB.
Perez said they are looking into amending the penalty amount to force compliance among contractors.
