Elevated U-Turn: What the Heck?

The path from C-5 to Kalayaan Avenue in Makati had always been the bane of complaints from motorists and commuters alike. But if you’re one of those who takes the EDSA route (a favorite target of rallyists and the notorious league of F1 bus drivers) or even the select few who just walks their way to the office, then you probably don’t know what I’m blogging about.

Imagine your usual 15-minute drive to your destination extending for about an hour? Or your typical one hour morning commute stretching for a 2 hours even? Exaggerated?! Maybe but that’s the general description you’ll be hearing from those who have no other choice but to endure the crammed traffic condition along C-5. Its flow of traffic gets even more sluggish with the slightest of rain and the occasional road mishaps.

Lucky for us, the government took notice and thus received numerous proposals from its (sadly corrupt) agencies to help alleviate the problem. Among them were the flyover (a popular “first thing that comes to mind” solution for the general public), a tunnel (another tried and tested alternative, albeit more expensive to maintain), and an elevated U-turn (Say what?).

Ah yes, the controversial twin elevated U-turns. These infrastructures were unheard of until their construction started to cause even more clogging. In short, criticisms came speeding up the media highway at a rate the C-5 traffic would never ever catch up.

Four months later, here I am (and probably you too) benefitting from the decreased travel time. Still not that fast for an average of about 50 kph for the entire C-5 route, but it surely is faster than what it was without (Do I have to mention it again? Sigh, oh well here it is the) elevated U-turn.