What caused the Dec. 6 Marcos Highway ‘carmaggedon’? Rizal gov explains.

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Rizal Gov.

Nini Ynares

outlined several possible factors behind the standstill traffic that left motorists and commuters stuck for hours along

Marcos Highway

on Saturday night, December 6.

Reports of Filipinos being stuck in hours-long traffic on the highway traversing the cities of Pasig, Marikina, and Antipolo, Rizal circulated online, with some travelers saying they spent the entire evening on the road.

“Carmageddon” is a portmanteau of the terms “car” and “Armageddon, the biblical place where good and evil are destined to have their last battle.

“I’m sure a lot of people were affected by the severe traffic last night where some say that they spent more than [six] hours on the road, moving only a few inches at a time. Usually, this kind of traffic would be caused by accidents or, sometimes, flooding,” the user added.

“Salamat at nakauwi na rin, layo lang ng nilakad dahil sa sobrang traffic sa Masinag, Antipolo Rizal,” she wrote in a

What Ynares says

Metropolitan Manila Development Authority

(MMDA), she said, attributed the congestion to the surge of vehicles during the Christmas rush and simultaneous mall sales.

Ynares lists contributing factors:

Bottleneck forming at the intersection in front of Sta. Lucia Mall in Cainta, including the U-turn slots (eastbound and westbound). The mall also had a Holiday Weekend Sale for the entire month of December.

The DPWH Anti-Truck Overloading Mobile Enforcement (ATOME) station occupying an entire lane as passing trucks are weighed in front of the Sta. Lucia Mall.

Some trucks are travelling in the area despite a truck ban in Marikina from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The number of commuters who were forced to walk due to the standstill traffic, especially since the LRT-2’s last trip from Recto was at 9:30 p.m.

Many vehicles on Sumulong were counterflowing, worsening the traffic situation.

Ynares assured her constituents that they are continuously implementing initiatives to ease traffic congestion as the Christmas season approaches.

These include ensuring alternate routes remain open, hiring additional traffic enforcers year-round to enforce traffic laws strictly, coordinating with neighboring towns and cities, as well as with the MMDA, for a synchronized traffic management plan, and requesting that the Philippine National Police also deploy its uniformed personnel.

“Patuloy pong tututukan ang sitwasyong ito. Wala man sa atin ang control sa mga kundisyon sa mga karatig-lugar at katabing mga bayan [or] lungsod, gagawin sa abot ng makakaya ng ating lungsod ang lahat para maibsan ang epekto sa mga biyahero at motorista,” the Rizal governor said.

Antipolo Office of Public Safety and Security

, or OPSS,

reportedly

said the congestion was due to the high volume of vehicles headed toward Marikina City, Cubao, and Cainta, Rizal.

Vehicles blocking the U-turn slots on the highway were also reported to be a contributing factor to traffic.

Traffic eased and became light at around 12:06 a.m. on Sunday, December 7.

Meanwhile, the MMDA

said

it would meet with the local government units whose cities are along the highway to address the severe congestion in the area.

Victor Maria Nuñez

, Traffic Enforcement Group Director for Enforcement of the MMDA, also stated that heavy traffic was experienced on EDSA this past weekend due to the large number of motorists leaving Metro Manila, in addition to the reported accidents.