Starting Sunday midnight, Jan. 12, the entire northbound lane of Mindanao Avenue in Quezon City will be closed to traffic for the start of the full-blast construction of the Tandang Sora Station of the Metro Manila Subway Project.
The entire southbound lane of the Mindanao Avenue was already closed to traffic on Sept. 14 last year and MMDA chairperson Don Artes said there is a need to shut down the other side of the road to give way to the ongoing construction of the subway project.
Antonio Aganon, an engineer representing the contractor of the Metro Manila Subway Project, said that the closure of the Mindanao Avenue has long been planned and they made at least 14 coordination meetings with government agencies to come up with a traffic plan.
“The Tandang Sora Station Box will be constructed beneath Mindanao Avenue. In order to do this, we need to divert traffic on both sides, specifically southbound and northbound,” said Aganon in a recent press briefing at the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) office in Pasig City.
He said the Tandang Sora Station is the third subway station that they will be building—the first was the North Avenue Station followed by the Quirino Highway Station.
The P488.48-billion Metro Manila Subway Project is a 33-kilometer underground railway system through eight cities in the National Capital Region (NCR).
It will have 17 stations starting from Valenzuela where its depot will be located up to Bicutan in Taguig City. The project will also have a station near the Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
Artes, for his part, said the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will do the traffic diversion in both south and northbound directions of Mindanao Avenue.
“The road closure will last until 2028. The traffic is expected to be heavy but once completed, this will be a big relief to our motorists and commuters,” said Artes.
Artes said that the traffic plan presented by the contractor, in coordination with the MMDA and other government agencies, was aimed at ensuring the least inconvenience possible to the motorists.
He said the alternative route will have longer travel time for motorists that used to use Mindanao Avenue.