This is regarding the Inquirer’s March 25 online news item titled, “Woman hurt in QC road mishap.” Not the first and only article about road mishaps, for sure. The media, including the Inquirer, have had reports of such accidents quite regularly. And Inquirer columnist Neal Cruz has called the attention of the proper authorities to several accidents in a certain section of the road. Who is responsible for keeping the road safe? The Quezon City government, the Department of Public Works and Highways, the Department of Transportation and Communications, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, the Philippine National Police? Or is it some other agency?

Having lived in Fairview, Quezon City, or over 30 years, I’ve seen the transformation of Commonwealth Avenue from a two-lane asphalt road into a 12-lane highway that some nincompoops have turned into a deadly road full of “dangerous traps.” Some of these traps are:

1. Poor design. A number of lanes are wide at some points and narrow at others (e.g., entering Fairview) causing bottlenecks. Unsafe for motorists, pedestrians and residents.

2. The U-turn near the St. Peter Church easily clogs four lanes on both sides. It causes monstrous traffic even during non-rush hours. There’s another one being built across the Ever Gotesco mall. Can these two useless U-turn slots be removed?

3. “Pink fences,” often unmarked and unseen at night or in bad weather. Main cause of accidents. They are totally useless. Passenger jeepneys and buses simply disregard them.

4. Houses are too close to the motorway. Shouldn’t they be relocated or moved farther away? Shouldn’t their residents be told to use the overpasses too?

5. Pink metal advertising frames (on the island and along the road) that are probably self-serving. (It’s only the face of the MMDA chair dominating them.) The contraptions and their messages are at best useless; at worst, they do not promote safety along the road.

6. Instead of widening and then constricting the road (and felling old trees in the process), why don’t the authorities just build the planned metro rail? Same problems are evident in the Katipunan-Tandang Sora area.

Will the concerned authorities please do something about these deadly “traps”?

ALEX MAALIW (via email)