By U.S. News Agency / Asian

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) is set to install additional closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras along the 12.4- kilometer Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City for more effective traffic management and monitoring and do away with its “killer highway” image.

MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino said the agency is eyeing additional CCTVs this year to augment the two units already installed at strategic sites along Commonwealth Avenue.

“Maglalagay tayo ng mga karagdagang CCTV cameras doon sa lugar para ma-monitor natin nang maayos ang daloy ng trapiko. Isang lane din doon ang gagawin natin na dedicated lang sa mga buses. (We will put additional CCTV cameras on that place to monitor the flow of the traffic. We will put another lane dedicated for buses only),” Tolentino said, adding that other infrastructures such as a concrete separator will also be put up on the highway in coordination with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Aside from Commonwealth Avenue, the MMDA has also installed CCTV cameras along other major thoroughfares in Metro Manila, with Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue (EDSA) having the most with 25 units.

To complement the CCTVs, the MMDA also put up four footbridges worth P62 million at various points in Commonwealth Avenue last year. The footbridges accommodate close to 50,000 pedestrians on a daily basis, the agency said.

Overall, the MMDA said there are now 59 footbridges in the entire metropolis being used by an average of 2.4 million pedestrians daily.

The CCTV project formed part of the “No Physical Contact Policy” (NPCP) of the agency which employs the use of the device and digital cameras in recording the violations being committed by motorists.

Apart from catching motorists who ignore traffic laws, the MMDA said the system has been also helpful in monitoring the traffic flow in major thoroughfares in the metropolis.

Noemi Recio, MMDA Traffic Engineering Director and Officer-in-Charge of Traffic and Transport Management Office (TTMO), said, “We believe that we can improve and utilize the no-physical contact apprehension scheme as one way of strengthening our apprehension efforts and imparting into the consciousness of the of the public MMDA’s intent and capability to strictly enforce traffic rules.”

Considered as the widest highway in the country, Commonwealth Avenue has a width of 95 meters and spans 10 to 18 lanes. Commonwealth Avenue starts from the Quezon Memorial Circle inside the Elliptical Road and passes through Philcoa, Tandang Sora, Balara, Batasan Hills and ends at the Quirino Highway in Novaliches.

It has been dubbed as a “killer highway” due to the unusually big number of fatal accidents that have happened there.

A study by the University of the Philippines-National Center for Transportation Studies found that 57 percent of the accidents on Commonwealth Avenue were caused by “human error, primarily by overspeeding, overtaking/excessive lane-changing, inattentiveness and aggressive driver behavior.” (Reported By C. Lloyd T. Caliwan)