Tumana Bridge - Connecting Two Cities

In the 90's, there were only a few roads that led out of Marikina City to the neighboring cities Quezon City, Pasig City, Cainta and Antipolo City.   A. Bonifacio St. was the main artery of Marikina leading out to Marcos Highway and eventually connecting to Aurora Blvd in Quezon City.

An access road though was developed to have an alternative means to get to Quezon City from Marikina City and that is the Tumana Bridge.  

From J.P. Rizal Street in Concepcion, turn at the Bagong Farmers Avenue 1 and this road leads straight to the Tumana Bridge.  In September  2008,  the House of Representatives approved the new name of Tumana Bridge which is now known as Gil Fernando Bridge.

The change was due to the newly constructed and elevated flyover connecting two major districts, Concepcion in Marikina City and Balara in Quezon City.   Before this new bridge, an old bridge existed but was impassable the moment the Marikina River's waters rised.    The bridge was almost as low as the river water which is why the bridge disappears when it is submerged in rising waters.  The new bridge has taken care of this problem.

The bridge is strictly enforcing the passage of standard vehicles on the bridge.   Bicycles, pedicabs, people and trucks are not allowed to use the bridge.

This is what I call a scenic route as you traverse the bridge from Marikina and cross the river to the serene fields and quiet neighborhood along the hillside in Balara eventually winding up to Katipunan Road.  You can cut enjoy the scenery and cut travel time by half by using this access road.   

Paliparan, The Long Stretch of a Road

The long one way roads connecting Bayan and Concepcion are collectively called Paliparan.  One end connects to Shoe Avenue, one of the main roads in Bayan, Marikina City and the other end leads to Bayan-Bayanan Ave. where the Immaculate Concepcion Church is located.  Their actual road names are E. Santos St. (one way from Bayan to Concepcion) and E. Rodriguez St.  (one way from Concepcion to Bayan).

Both roads are parallel to each other. This is a prime road for motorists as jeeps from Montalban, San Mateo, Parang and SSS Village all traverse this road to get to Bayan.  It's basically a straight and flat road.

Ever wondered why they call those roads  Paliparan ?

Well, during the Japanese occupation, this area used to be a Japanese airfield which planes used to land and take off, hence "Paliparan", which is Tagalog for "runway".  This is also the reason why this multi-kilomter road is so straight.

So the next time you pass Paliparan, think of passing through a road that used to be a airplane runway.

Shoe On The Run

Ever seen a giant shoe ?  Well how about a gigantic shoe on wheels ?

Marikina City, known for its progressive shoe industry, has built a unique pink high heel shoe which is actually built on top of a tricycle framework.  It's officially called Motorized Cycle Footwear, built by the Engineering Department of Marikina.

The pink color and shoe both represent the spirit of Marikina City combined with the creativity the city constantly shows via its city projects.

When this shoe goes to the streets, may be you could sing this song to the tune of "These Boots Were Made For Walking" 

"These shoes were made for riding,

That's just what they'll do.

One of these days these shoes

are gonna roll along with you"

Florings Bids Farewell

Florings, the long time minimart, and grocery along Rainbow St. and Lavander St. has now closed. This store within SSS Village has been around for decades.  I remember when I was little that Florings was one of the reliable stores to buy food and body products if we ran out of some or needed something quickly.  My mom used to buy canned goods, crackers and some knick-knacks at Florings in the '70's when they moved to Marikina.  It started out as a small sari-sari store and slowly grew occupying a bigger corner lot.

I guess with the advent of a myriad of convenience stores which have all been more accessible than before, that Florings naturally was going to lose out to them.

Nevertheless, Florings has served the thousands of residents within the vicinity for nearly four decades.  To Florings: thank you for your service.

Katipunan Extension Shortcut Open To Light Vehicles

If you're coming from BayTree, Gen. Ordonez, SSS Village, Marikina Heights and even Bayan-Bayanan, you must be familiar with the long straight Katipunan Road which leads all the way to Sumulong Highway via the Katipunan-Sumulong road. 

And if you're leaving the city going towards Cainta, Pasig or Quezon City, one of the most popular routes is to take a left turn at the intersection of Sumulong Highway and Gil Fernando Ave., which leads to Marcos Highway.  This is a good route.  However, the stoplight at the intersection (near Bluewave Marquinton) takes almost 5 minutes long before your side turns green.

This is where the new Katipunan-Sumulong extensions comes in handy.   

A new road across the Katipunan-Sumulong road crosses Sumulong Highway and follows the zigzag curvature path of the creek and connects to Mt. Kennedy St.  You can turn right after crossing the bridge which leads to Mt. Vernon.  This road will lead you to Gil Fernando Ave. bypassing the major intersection (and possible traffic) along Sumulong Highway. 

Since this new road is also two-way, you can traverse this road heading to Sumulong Highway, where you'll see Kia Marikina to your immediate right.

The access road though is only allowed for light vehicles as the bridge can only support 5 tons.  A vertical clearance of 2.20 meters is imposed in the form of a metal pole placed horizontally above both ends of the access road to prevent ten wheeler delivery vans, trucks and buses to use the road.

Unfortunately for some hard-headed motorists whose vehicles won't fit the 2.20 meter clearance, you'll see some of them get stuck.  And then a few have forced their van resulting in damage for both the steel pole and their top.

Nevertheless, this road is indeed a shortcut especially when traffic along Sumulong Highway builds up.   The road is not well lighted during evenings so it's best to use it during the day.

Proposed Convention Center

If you happen to pass by Marikina Hotel on Pio del Pilar St. within SSS Village, then you'll notice that just right beside it is a huge construction going on.

A few months ago when this site was being prepared for construction, I had no idea what it was going to be.  I was guessing it may be a school, a new company, or even an extension to the Marikina Hotel.

It's kinda taking shape now and when I checked out the sign in front, it says that the building being built is a proposed convention center.  There's no completion date written but from the looks of their pace, it seems that it may open some time this year.

That's exciting cause I don't think there is any convention center yet here in Marikina City.  And its location just right beside the Marikina Hotel is ideal cause they could complement each other.   Convention attendees can easily check in to the hotel for convenience.  

I think this will be a fine addition to Marikina's establishments.

Floating Lights

I bet you're familiar with street lights located along the sidewalks on top of tall posts.   Some wide roads may have some additional lamp posts on the island divider.

You may be amazed with the Marikina street lights along A. Bonifacio... because they're floating at the center !

Along the stretch of A. Bonifacio street from Marcos Highway passing through Barangka and Sto. Nino,  all the way to the Marikina Bridge are a long series of lights floating above and center of the road.

  

The lights are actually suspended by cables which are fastened from both sides of the street.  In addition, all the lights are connected via cables from one light to the other, creating some sort of a web of cables but are barely visible especially at night.   It gives off the effect of floating lights.   Also, the lights make the road well lighted as opposed to the standard lamp posts which light up the sidewalk and could barely light the road.

I haven't seen this in any other city in the Metropolis so seeing this in Marikina makes the city unique.

Marikina City Website Finalist in Philippine Web Awards

The Official website of Marikina City is once again a finalist in this year's 11th Philippine Web Awards.

Last year, the Marikina City website won the BEST e-LGU Website (City Category) and
the People's Choice Award for Best City Website.
 

This year is the 2nd time for Marikina City to join the Philippine Web Awards and it is now one of the finalists in the Local Government Unit - City Category.  This year, we're up against The Official Websites of Tagum, Manila, Muntinlupa and Iligan City.

In addition, the website is also eligible to win the People's Choice Award.  To vote via SMS, text

 WEBBYS VOTE 46

and send to 2973 for Globe subscribers and 2955 for Smart subscribers.

Visit http://www.philippinewebawards.com for the complete list of finalists.