WHEN work began last year to finally widen the Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City, we were all ecstatic.  “We” here refers to me and my fellow residents, who consider Commonwealth Avenue as their main avenue—their gateway to the world outside their abode.

No less than 20 villages and subdivisions straddle Commonwealth Avenue, from Quezon Memorial Circle all the way to Fairview and the Batasan Pambansa, spilling into the Payatas Smokey Mountain east of Manila.

We number in the thousands—even a million, I believe—as people using Commonwealth Avenue include those living in the Bulacan eastern towns not far from the city of San Jose del Monte and the huge barangay of Novaliches.

Daily, thousands of—if not a million and one—vehicles use Commonwealth Avenue.  Public-utility buses, as well as transport jeepneys, load and unload passengers on Commonwealth Avenue by the minute as they ply routes bound for Makati and Baclaran, Pasay and Quiapo, and even Caloocan and Monumento.

In fact, Commonwealth Avenue is the busiest road today in Metro Manila—next only to Edsa.

It is also the widest (as many as eight lanes) stretch of highway in the metropolis as history tells us that the great, lamented President Manuel L. Quezon had envisioned Commonwealth Avenue as the premier avenue of Metro Manila.

But alas and alack, Commonwealth Avenue has now been notoriously monikered “Death Highway” due to numerous vehicular accidents there.  Statistics show that the most number of fatal vehicle crashes have been recorded on Commonwealth Avenue during the last five years or so.

Only recently, several life-claiming accidents have happened on Commonwealth Avenue due to the concrete fences constructed there, purportedly for taxi-jeepney-bus stops.

 Sadly, these structures have never been utilized for the said purpose and, at night, they become the main cause of collisions between car and concrete as they are poorly lit, if not practically unlighted.

For one to avoid the structures, one must drive by memory—meaning, you should know where the exact location of these structures are in order for you to avoid them when driving home at night.

In short, first-time visitors to Commonwealth Avenue become easy prey of these structures.  Residents coming home a bit tipsy from a late-night party are sometimes trapped, too, forgetting altogether that such structures do exist.

Now, only very recently, some of these structures had been torn down.  But, horror of horrors, in their place are new structures: snaking humps, designed, purportedly, to make the U-Turn system high-tech.

These crisscrossing humps (islands), painted in striped black, are almost done.

I tell you, it’s the most stupid idea I’ve ever come across since Bayani Fernando ignited his Pink Revolution in the Big City.

What’s happening on Commonwealth Avenue is this: They widen the road, only to narrow it down later with humps/islands.

Today, traffic jams have started again—all because of these snaking humps found near the Ever Gotesco Mall, and before one turns right to Batasan Pambansa.

My question is:  Did Fernando author such stupidity again?

I hope not. Because if he did, what power does he have to impose upon us another act of pure nonsense?

If it was not him, who else could have done it?  The Public Works bigwigs maybe, or officials of QC.

Besides cramping Commonwealth Avenue, those humps pose yet another road hazard, especially at night when they could hardly be noticed.

Driving on Commonwealth Avenue could be faster than usual at night and, all of sudden, you hit those humps/islands without any warning. You crash!  And who knows what will happen next?

My prayer is: Can’t our good congressmen do something about these road hazards?

Hey, fellas, you pass by Commonwealth Avenue from Monday to Wednesday every week, you know what I’m talking about.

It won’t be too much to ask, I guess, for you to probe the matter.

Maybe you are not aware of the already many mishaps that have happened in the area as I know you are too busy serving our people with your numerous yet-to-be-passed bills in Congress.

But what’s a day to spare to investigate such projects—if only to show your concern to the general public, even just for once?

I pray Fernando isn’t involved in this latest crazy project or he’d be the object once more of unrelenting hatred.  He’s had enough doses of headaches, I believe, due to his Hitler-like posturing via his infamous streamers along Edsa and other conspicuous parts of Metro Manila.

Rice crisis and all, give us a break, will you?

Pee stop

Congrats to the well-run staging of the Fourth SPMJ Golf Invitational Cup at Intramuros, with special mention going to SPMJ chairman Butch “Elvis” Gamboa, Popong Andolong (tournament chairman) and Maricar Parco for their splendid handling of the so-called dirty work leading to the success of the event. Cheers!

SINCE its introduction three years ago, the Toyota Fortuner has practically taken to heart its tagline “The world is mine.” But with the mass-market midsize diesel SUV competition getting significant upgrades, can it still lay claim to the top of sales in its class?

AFTER the Volvo C30 won the Petron 2007 Car of the Year Awards late last year, Volvo went on a marketing binge. An event here, a launch there and even some out-of-the-country trips to showcase the excellence of its vehicles.

Eyes on the Road: Questions about CNG fuel

A READER, Jorge Rillona, raised several questions regarding compressed natural gas, or CNG. He wrote: 

“Andy,

I read your article today in the BusinessMirror and noted your mention of CNG for alternate fuels. Last week I finally decided to drop everything I was doing and drove down to the only CNG fueling station I know, the Shell station on the South Super Highway near Mamplasan Exit in Laguna, to basically find out, ‘Hey, I’m a consumer.  Can I buy CNG from you?’

Full Tank: More stupid than the Pink Revolution

WHEN work began last year to finally widen the Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City, we were all ecstatic.  “We” here refers to me and my fellow residents, who consider Commonwealth Avenue as their main avenue—their gateway to the world outside their abode.

Fuel-efficient driving? It can be done!

LONG before the recent fuel-price hikes, Honda Cars Philippines Inc. (HCPI) and Petron Corp. had been harping on the importance of fuel-efficient driving.