New Katipunan Zipper Lane added today, October 2, to address bad morning traffic
It’s been about 10 days since the Katipunan Avenue morning Zipper Lane dry run began. As someone who passes that area a lot, I can say that there was some improvement that came of it; we’ll get to that in a short while. As of today, though, another zipper was added, this time along the UP-bound lane and goes towards Miriam College. Here’s what you need to know.
Zipper Lane added to address vehicular volume going into Miriam College
Photo: QC Gov
This new Zipper Lane is but an addition and the existing Zipper from Gate 2 to Gate 3 of Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU) will still continue its use and implementation. This existing lane filters out vehicles that come from the Katipunan flyover’s northbound side and do not intend to go into AdMU, allowing them to avoid traffic.
The new Zipper, on the other hand, will serve those on the southbound lanes of Katipunan who intend to drop off students at Miriam College (MC).
Photo: QC Gov
The new Zipper Lane’s entry point will be after the existing U-Turn slot found across Mercury Drug Store in UP Town Center. With one entry point, it will have two different exits that both allow vehicles to turn left. The first lets off at the La Vista-Mangyan Road entrance that leads to Gates 5 and 6 of MC. The other turn point is directly into MC’s Gate 3 entrance which is found along Katipunan. As such, a stop-and-go scheme will be implemented to allow northbound movement along Katipunan as well as give time for MC-bound vehicles to turn left.
Be advised that this Zipper Lane is absolutely for MC-bound vehicles only. There will be no exit back into the southbound lane of Katipunan from this Zipper.
Photo: QC Gov
Earlier we mentioned that we saw some improvement following the start of the “older” Zipper Lane’s dry run. Coming from Commonwealth, CP Garcia is not as congested, and the gridlock on the southbound side of Katipunan, though still dense, is much more manageable and moves at a relatively quicker pace. Getting back to the northbound side of Katipunan, the traffic is also lighter. It’s not the same as before-the-school-year-started levels, but it was much better nonetheless.
This morning, though, was not so good. CP Garcia was still “clear”, but once you hit Katipunan, there’s more vehicular volume southbound. Northbound was much different and looked as hellish as it was pre-MC-bound-Zipper-Lane, and I had to resort to another route to get to my destination and avoid Katipunan altogether again.
We hope that this morning’s situation is nothing but a growing pain and that it gets better as MMDA and QC LGU traffic enforcers get a better hold of the situation and the added Zipper Lane.
