‘Mt. Kamuning’ to be replaced by access-friendly footbridge in December
A new pedestrian-friendly footbridge is being built on Edsa to replace the one dubbed by netizens as “Mt. Kamuning” because of its multiple levels of stairs and steep incline.
Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon presided over the groundbreaking for the new Kamuning footbridge in Quezon City on Thursday, along with Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte and Rep. Franz Pumaren of the city’s third district.
The footbridge, which will be connected to an Edsa Busway station that will undergo rehabilitation, is expected to be completed by December. The old footbridge will then be demolished.
“It’s time to have a dedicated entrance and exit for the busway station in Kamuning,” Dizon said.
“So, the target is to finish both the footbridge and the station by December. That’s our promise,” he told reporters.
Unacceptable
“As you know, the President himself said this several months ago; he saw the very famous Mt. Kamuning, our tourist attraction here in Quezon City. He said, ‘Tear that down, let’s build a new one.’”
Belmonte also said the old footbridge should be demolished for not being “inclusive” to pedestrians, particularly the vulnerable sectors, such as senior citizens and persons with disabilities.
“At the end of the day, that is not acceptable to us because it’s inconvenient and it’s not inclusive. It leaves out any vulnerable sectors. And that is contrary to our vision of an inclusive mobility infrastructure program. So it has to be torn down,” she said.
Dizon assured the public that work on the new footbridge will have minimal effect on traffic on Edsa as construction will be done very early in the day. “We obviously won’t work on that when there are a lot of vehicles,” he said.
Describing the new footbridge as more accessible to the public, Dizon said it will have two elevators and wheelchair lifters.
“According to our designers, it will be fully compliant with mobility and accessibility standards. It will be wide, not steep, the steps will not be too high and there will be elevators on both the northbound and southbound sides. There will be wheelchair lifts in the middle for easy access,” he added.
According to the Department of Transportation, the total cost for the new Kamuning footbridge, along with the busway station rehabilitation, is over P89.1 million. Of the total, more than P33 million will go to the busway station rehabilitation; nearly P54 million for the footbridge, elevators and wheelchair lifts; over P1 million for the facilities for engineers; more than P488,000 for construction occupational safety and health and over P420,000 for the traffic management plan.
