Traffic mess exposes shoppers in QC malls to great risk

IN light of the recent vehicular accident that killed a prominent journalist, I would like to call the attention of MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino and Quezon City officials to the danger shoppers at SM and Robinson’s in Fairview are exposed to every day. The two giant malls fronting each other create a gargantuan traffic mess along the narrow thoroughfares in the vicinity of these malls.

Shoppers, including students coming from nearby schools, visit these two competing malls in droves, especially during peak hours. To get to their destination, they are forced to zigzag their way through unyielding buses and jeepneys on Regalado, Belfast and Quirino Avenues because there are neither access foot bridges nor traffic lights in the area. I am sure Mayor Herbert Bautista and Tolentino will not like what they will see if they visit this busy and accident-prone area.

At least one set of traffic lights each on Belfast Avenue and Regalado Avenue (where the bulk of bus riders get off) should be installed. I hope the MMDA chairman and the city mayor will heed these suggestions before lives are lost due to official negligence. How many more accidents and lives must be sacrificed to prick the conscience of our officials?—POMPEYO S. PEDROCHE, [email protected]