Ayala Land reviews urban plan for Makati 

Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) is developing a “transport infrastructure study” and is concurrently reviewing the urban plan of the Makati Central Business District (CBD) to make its roads more inclusive for all commuters, according to a report by BusinessMirror.

After receiving backlash from active transport group Make It Safer Makati, Ayala Land said it is undertaking a comprehensive evaluation on how to make the roads of the Makati CBD more inclusive and sustainable.

“Ayala Land continues to engage with the biking community in finding an optimal solution for all stakeholders including pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, and commuters. We have started with a transport infrastructure study which will be complemented with an urban plan review of the Makati CBD,” the company said in a statement on Sunday.

Last week, Make It Safer Makati called out Ayala Land for supposedly “not honoring” its written commitment to “study a full protected bike lane,” claiming that the company “ignored the data and testimonies.” The group further alleged that Ayala Land “agreed to maintain the protected bike lanes and to implement street design solutions through a technical working group.”

To recall, Ayala Land decided to reconfigure Ayala Avenue to 3 meters during the height of the pandemic. However, it reduced it to 1.5 meters after the demand for motor vehicles increased with the lifting of mobility restrictions.

Ayala Land claimed that it engaged with Make It Safer Makati to form a technical working group “with the goal of ensuring safety and equality of access for all commuters — pedestrians, commuters, cyclists, and motorists.”

“Today, Makati boasts 4-kilometer-long protected bike lanes along the main thoroughfares of the central business district. These continue to be enhanced with safety infrastructure based on inputs from the cycling community, including the installation of additional bollards and signages, as well as enforcement from Makati Parking Authority for any motor vehicles using the bike lanes.

Ayala Land continues to set the standard for evolving the livability of communities in the Philippines — outside of Ortigas CBD and BGC private developments, this is the only protected bike lane of its kind,” the company said.

Currently, Ayala Avenue has a 12-meter-wide carriageway per direction divided into four lanes. This road is host to over 600,000 bus and jeepney commuters, motorcycle riders, and private car owners, as well as 2,600 bikers daily.

“The decision to dedicate a 1.5-meter protected lane was made in the interest of managing inclusivity across all commuters — most especially the buses and jeepneys as public transport.”