Everybody’s talking about the anomalous flood control projects and the government officials involved in them. So much so that we seem to forget about another lingering issue that has worsened over the years—the gridlocks of Metro Manila.

More than the volume of vehicles on our overwhelmed thoroughfares, there’s another reason that needs to be addressed as soon as possible: street parking. As the number of vehicles in Metro Manila grows, the same can be said about owners who do not have parking spaces in their homes.

With a lot of cars illegally parked on the streets, these further encroach on our roads, making us lose possible shortcuts and alternate routes. Thankfully, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and the mayor-members of the Metro Manila Council are finally addressing this problem.

Meeting at the MMDA office in Pasig, the agency and the local chief executives in the metropolis agreed to pass MMDA Regulation No. 25-001 (“Harmonizing Public Street Parking in Metro Manila and for Other Purposes”). Under this new regulation, the following roads are now strictly No Parking Zones.

• Parts of C1 Road from C.M. Recto-Legarda Street to Bonifacio Avenue corner Roxas Boulevard in Manila
• Parts of C2 Road from Road 10 to or President Quirino Avenue corner Roxas Boulevard to R10 in Manila
• C3 Road (from C3 Road corner Road 10 in Navotas to G. Araneta Avenue corner N. Domingo in San Juan)
• Parts of C4 Road (from EDSA Monumento in Caloocan to Macapagal Avenue in Pasay)
• Parts of C5 Road (from Commonwealth Avenue to South Super Highway in Taguig/Parañaque)
• Parts of C6 Road, particularly the Southeast Metro Manila Expressway in Taguig
• Parts of Radial Road 1 (the entire stretch of Roxas Boulevard from Padre Burgos in Manila to Airport Road in Pasay)
• Parts of Radial Road 2 (the entire stretch of Taft Avenue from Lawton, Manila, to Redemptorist in Parañaque)
• Parts of Radial Road 3 (the stretch of Osmeña Highway from Quirino Avenue in Manila to Nichols Interchange, Pasay)
• Parts of Radial Road 4 (J.P. Rizal from Tejeros in Makati to P. Zamora in Taguig)
• Parts of Radial Road 5 (Ortigas Avenue from Santolan in Pasig to Imelda Avenue in Cainta)
• Parts of Radial Road 6 (from Legarda Street to R. Magsaysay Boulevard in Manla; Aurora Boulevard to C5 in Katipunan in Quezon City)
• Radial Road 7 (from España in Manila to Commonwealth Avenue corner Mindanao Avenue in Quezon City)
• Parts of Radial Road 8 (from Blumentritt in Manila to EDSA Balintawak in Quezon City)
• Parts of Radial Road 9 (from Carriedo in Manila to Monumento in Caloocan)
• Radial Road 10 (from Delpan in Manila to Navotas Terminal)
• Bonifacio Drive (from P. Burgos Street to 2nd Street in Manila)
• Elliptical Road in Quezon City
• Mindanao Avenue in Quezon City
• Dr. A. Santos Avenue (Sucat Road) in Parañaque
• Ninoy Aquino Avenue in Parañaque
• Shaw Boulevard in Mandaluyong
• Boni Avenue in Mandaluyong
• Alabang-Zapote Road in Las Piñas

The MMDA leaves it up to the local government units to implement ordinances to regulate non-national roads within their respective jurisdictions. The City of Manila has declared these additional roads as No Parking Zones:

• Agusto Francisco Street
• Alfonzo Mendoza Street
• Apacible Street
• Arellano Avenue
• Ayala Boulevard
• Bacood Street
• Beata Street
• Blumentritt Road, Sampaloc
• Carreon Street
• Dimasalang Street
• Estrada Street
• Fajardo Street
• Finance Road
• Geronimo Street
• Guanzon Street
• Jesus Street
• Jose Abad Santos Avenue
• Westbound lanes of Kalaw
• Laong Laan Street
• Lawton
• Legarda Street
• Leon Guinto Street
• Dela Fuente Street
• Maceda Street
• Maria Clara Street
• Moriones Street
• Natividad Lopez Street
• Old Santa Mesa Road
• Onyx Street
• Sanchez Street
• Pablo Ocampo Street
• Padre Burgos Avenue
• Padre Faura Street
• Panaderos Street
• Pasig Line Street
• Paz Street
• Pedro Gil Street
• Penafrancia Street
• Quirino Avenue Extension
• Quirino Street, Tondo
• Retiro Street
• Romualdez Street
• San Andres Bukid
• San Anton Street
• San Marcelino Street
• Singalong Street
• Tayuman Street
• Tejeron Street
• United Nations Avenue
• Vicente Cruz Street
• Victorino Mapa Street and Extension
• Zobel Roxas Street

The idea of banning street parking isn’t really new. We hope that this will be better and will be strictly implemented this time.

While it won’t be a magic pill that can solve all of the woes of motorists and commuters in Metro Manila, may this somehow speed up traffic flow and lessen the gridlocks that we have to deal with every day.