MMDA: Osmeña flyover rehabilitation to take 3-4 months

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said the approved repair and rehabilitation plan for the Osmeña Flyover in Makati City may take three to four months. However, the MMDA said the repair work will not start until the necessary traffic signs along the alternate routes have been put in place. "The motorists need to be properly informed about the project beforehand so that they will not be greatly inconvenienced," MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino said in a news article on the MMDA website. According to the MMDA, the project duration is 120 calendar days, but the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the contractor will try to finish it in 90 days. The repair and rehabilitation of the flyover is a project of the DPWH, which had sought traffic clearance from the MMDA. "The public needs to understand that the structure badly needs repair because it was built and used for almost 30 years now, and definitely, it is no longer safe as it was before. To delay its repair poses greater damage, especially during earthquakes," he said. The project will require the closure of one direction of the four-lane flyover while it is being repaired. The other direction will remain open but on a two-lane, two-way traffic scheme. Some of the vehicles traversing Osmeña Highway will be diverted and required to use the road beside the flyover in crossing Buendia Avenue in Makati City. The DPWH has mapped out a traffic re-routing plan to ensure that the flow of traffic will not be severely affected by the repair work. - VVP, GMA News