No traffic aides, lights as Avenida reopened to traffic

No traffic lights or signs, or traffic aides to guide motorists, pedestrians and commuters. This situation summarized the first two days of the new traffic scheme in the Sta. Cruz district in downtown Manila, which Manila mayor Alfredo Lim reopened to vehicular traffic. Except for concrete barriers of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), there was no sign of police or traffic officers who would step in if an accident occurred. Neither were there pedestrian lanes or traffic signs urging motorists and drivers to slow down at intersections. Lim formally reopened Saturday the portion of Avenida Street to traffic, some years after his predecessor Jose Atienza Jr. blocked it off in favor of pedestrians. As of Sunday, most of the vehicles using the reopened stretch of Avenida were passenger jeeps and taxicabs. Southbound passenger jeeps were also allowed to use nearby Ronquillo Street. - GMANews.TV