MAKATI'S LOST UNDERPASS

Back in 2015, the DPWH proposed building a vehicle underpass along Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue (formerly Buendia). The goal was to ease one of Makati's worst traffic bottlenecks.

The plan was a four-lane, 570-meter tunnel passing beneath the Makati Avenue and Paseo de Roxas intersections. Construction was supposed to begin in June 2015 and finish by April 2017, with a budget of around P1.2 billion. At the time, DPWH projected it could cut traffic in the area by as much as 50%.

So... what happened?

According to documents released through the Freedom of Information portal, the project was suspended because the DPWH was unable to secure the required excavation permit from the Makati City government.

It's interesting to imagine what Makati would look like today if it had pushed through.

Back then, the roughly 880-meter drive from A. Venue Mall to Zuellig Building could take up to 1.5 hours during heavy rains, partly because the Estrella Bridge was under construction. While the completed tunnel may have improved traffic in the long run, the construction itself would likely have made congestion even worse.

Years of roadworks along Gil Puyat could have effectively isolated the northern parts of Makati—Guadalupe Viejo, Guadalupe Nuevo, Poblacion, and Bel-Air—from the city's main business district.

And that raises an interesting question:

Would Poblacion have become the vibrant dining and nightlife district it is today if the underpass had been built? And how might it have affected demand for Rockwell properties?