The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will release $123 million in additional loans to the Philippines to help finance construction of elevated walkways in Metro Manila’s main road Edsa.
Dubbed as the Edsa Greenways Project, ADB in a statement on Monday said the project targets to build five kilometers of covered walkways, which will be connected to mass transit stations — Balintawak, Cubao, Guadalupe and Taft — along the major highway.
The development, it said, would be five meters wide, and will boast elevators and monitoring systems.
“The project, to be built with cutting-edge technology for cantilever overhead walkways, will provide safe, inclusive, and equitable access for commuters while lowering CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions,” ADB Senior Transport Specialist for Southeast Asia Shuji Kimura said in a statement.
“This project will encourage more Filipinos to switch from private vehicles to public transport,” the official said.
Data from the Metro Manila Development Authority showed that the annual average daily traffic on Edsa reached over 405,882 vehicles last year, 6 percent higher than the 383,828 in 2018.
According to ADB, the multi-million dollar project is part of the Duterte administration’s massive Build, Build, Build program as it hopes to revive the economy by accelerating public spending on infrastructure.
“The project will support Metro Manila’s recovery from the coronavirus disease pandemic. It is expected to create much-needed jobs during the construction period, with P3 billion ($61 million) to be spent on local raw materials,” ADB said.
Civil works contracts are set to be awarded in the first half of next year.