WALK, not drive. The Intramuros Administration (IA) implemented just last Monday, March 2, the first phase of its pedestrianization plan of the historic walled city.
According to IA, traffic is now one-way on General Luna Street, southbound only from Soriano to Victoria Sreets; one-way on Arzobispo, northbound only from Anda to Postigo Sreets; the Intendencia gyratory has been removed, allowing two-way traffic on the west and north side of the Intendencia; traffic is closed off along Santo Tomas Street in front of the Manila Cathedral; and traffic is closed off at Postigo Street beside Plaza Santo Tomas.
Under the first phase of the IA’s transport and mobility plan, a copy of which was obtained by the BusinessMirror, “bollards would be installed on Muralla Street between Beaterio and Plaza España; sidewalks would be brought out to provide a pinch point on Soriano Avenue, so that it is reduced to two lanes and the sidewalk also brought out on east side of General Luna adjacent to Plaza Roma to enable easier crossing.
“The sidewalk on the corner Arzobispo and Soriano Avenue might need to be brought out to aid the left turn movement from Arzobispo onto Soriano Avenue toward Anda Circle.”
In an interview with IA Administrator Marco ALV Sardillo III, he said: “We are now stricter about shifting on-street parking to off-street options, e.g., parking space [beside Fort Santiago], Postigo Parking [beside Palacio del Gobernador], Maestranza Plaza Parking and by the side of Magallanes Drive.”
He added that IA “will also be coordinating with the lot owners of idle/empty lots and underutilized parking spaces, to invite them if they’re interested to open their spaces for parking. One thing we have observed is that there are off-street parking options; it’s just that some people prefer to park on the street because of the convenience it brings [i.e., up to the very entrance of the establishments that they are transacting with].”
He explained that the pedestrianization of Intramuros was proposed as far back as 1973, under the development master plan funded by the government of Spain. He said that “the elimination of through traffic was prescribed as a fundamental criteria for organizing the traffic in Intramuros,” but added that “[the master plan] recognizes that we can’t totally close it to vehicular traffic,” as it is now a commercial area.
Sardillo also said a study in 1991 by Architects Manuel T. Mañosa Jr. and Geronimo Manahan of PROS Architects and Planners indicated that the vibrations from vehicular traffic has affected the integrity of the historic walls, structures, as well as the cobbled streets.
According to a World Bank-funded study completed last December, close to 3,000 passenger-car units (PCUs) enter and exit the historic walled city on a weekday at the peak hour of 8 am. The traffic drops to about 550 PCUs by 9 pm. “The total number of pedestrians entering Intramuros in a 12-hour day is 44,000,” the study said, with 44 percent walking, while the rest are dropped off by public-utility vehicles, motorcycles, private cars, taxis, tourist buses, bicycles and pedicabs.
The same study noted “a total of 3,471 vehicles…parked during the middle of the day, 46 percent of which were parked off-street. Of those parked off-street, 62 percent were in private car parks and 38 percent in public. Cars and motorcycles make up the majority of parked vehicles.”
Sardillo said: “In the short term, we would like to enhance the experience of tourists who come to Intramuros. [For the long term], these are necessary improvements to prime Intramuros into an investment area.”
He added that IA hopes to get funding via the extension of the current technical assistance from the World Bank “to helping us put together, and design or structure PPPs [public-private partnerships] and investment projects.”
A paper by the Asian Development Bank, entitled “Revitalization of Historic Inner-City Areas in Asia” (2008), noted: “Intramuros serves as the prime tourist destination within Manila. However, its attractions are limited and tourist numbers are relatively low; the main tourist destination, Fort Santiago, receives less than half a million visitors per year.”
Certain aspects of Phase 2 of IA’s transport and mobility plan are already being implemented. “For example, we have already greatly reduced the on-street parking along Aduana,” the IA chief said.
The second phase covers: completion of General Luna one-way system to the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila gate; sidewalk widening and improvement works on General Luna; enforce parking ban on the length of Anda Street, Victoria Street, to Solana and Muralla Streets between General Luna and Santa Lucia Streets; parking ban and sidewalk widening on Soriano Avenue in front of Plaza Roma; provision of sidewalk on Muralla Street outside the main entrance to Colegio de San Juan de Letran; further expansion of Plaza España on the side of Bank of the Philippine Islands; block off the Scout Jamboree Memorial triangle to turn it into a public space; creation of a small pedestrianized area outside the 7Eleven at the junction of Real and Muralla Streets; and creation of a small pedestrianized area outside the Bayleaf Hotel at the junction of Victoria and Muralla Streets.
Phase 3 interventions both inside and outside the walls, Sardillo said, should be achievable by 2017. “This includes changes such as pedestrianization and shared spaces that should be developed hand-in-hand with land use change,” he stressed.
Special to the BusinessMirror