Senator Grace Poe has filed a bill that seeks to establish a “network of sustainable elevated pedestrian walkways along Edsa and pertinent major public thoroughfares in high density urban areas.”

Poe’s proposal was contained in Senate Bill 1146 also known as the “Sustainable Elevated Walkways Act of 2016.”

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“A network of elevated walkways is an effective response to overcrowding and urban chaos. As in Hong Kong, aerial pedestrian walkways will portray dense urban areas in a new light,” she said in her explanatory note in the bill.

“A network of sustainable elevated walkways (was) designed precisely for highly congested areas, and will form an integral part of a larger, more comprehensive solution to the traffic and transport crisis of Metro Manila and affected urban areas,” the senator said.

Poe chairs the Senate committee on public services, hearing on a proposal to grant President Rodrigo Duterte emergency powers to address the traffic crisis in the country.

READ: Poe panel ends public hearings on emergency powers

The primary purpose of elevated walkways, she said, was to encourage pedestrianization and to connect pedestrians from one consumer activity to the next.

“An elevated walkway system furthers concepts of inclusive mobility and can be considered an alternative mode of transportation for our daily commuters. Aerial walkways are essential pedestrian infrastructure,” said Poe.

The bill said that the “ultimate goal” of establishing elevated pedestrian walkways was to create a “safe, comfortable, well-connected quality of life above the ground (grade) level, reclaiming without killing the street.”

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“Elevated walkways must maintain a continuous flow of pedestrian movement throughout the day and night, allowing pedestrians to move freely without vehicular congestion and interruptions from traffic lights and intersections. Way-finding provisions and directional signages shall facilitate flow within the system,” it said.

The bill listed the following acts that should be prohibited in the elevated walkways:

(a) Driving or parking motor and non-motor vehicles along all such walkways, including its

vertical access points and drop-off areas;

(b) Vending, selling, or servicing of foods, magazines, newspapers, cigarettes, brooms,

watches or jewelries, shoes and other footwear, shoe shine and shoe repair, and/or

any other commodities, items, and services;

(c) Alms or donation-seeking activities;

(d) Doing house chores such as washing clothes, hanging clothes and bathing;

(e) Repair of vehicles of all types;

(f) Dumping garbage;

(g) Sports, games, and amusements;

(h) Use of walkway to install pens of animals or keep animals in chains or tether;

(i) Holding picnics/gatherings or storage of foodstuffs and beverages for such gatherings;

(j) Drinking liquor;

(k) Storing of junks and recyclable materials;

(1) Storage of construction materials for sale (pipes, tubings, lumber, cement and the

like).

The bill proposes penalties ranging from summary abatement, dismantling, forfeiture, and disposal of the obstruction along the walkway to a fine of P3,000 or an imprisonment of not more than 30 days, or both. RAM/rga

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