Travel between the two central business districts (CBDs) of Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Taguig City and Ortigas Center in Pasig City has become much faster with the recent opening of the BGC – Ortigas Center Link Bridge, now known as Kalayaan Bridge.
The Launch of the Kalayaan Bridge
The BGC – Ortigas Center Link Bridge, rechristened as Kalayaan Bridge by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), has opened to the public this 12 June 2021, incidentally the date of the Philippines’ 123rd Independence Day. Its launch has been highly anticipated for years. Also, it is one of several additional bridge projects spanning the Pasig River. It makes sense to give it the name “kalayaan” (indepedence) not so much because it launched on the holiday but more because of practicality, being quite near Kalayaan Avenue in Makati City.
Bike commuting between BGC and Ortigas Center
A bike commute between these two areas takes anywhere between 30 and 45 minutes before the pandemic. Now, a third option exists.
Aside from the motoring public for whom this bridge has been primarily made, it also hopes to address the needs of pedestrians needing easier and more direct access between the BGC and Ortigas Center CBDs. Equally important during this COVID-19 pandemic is addressing the need of bike commuters for alternative options aside from the thoroughfares of C. P. Garcia Avenue (C-5) and EDSA.
We’ve taken a video showing how long it takes to get by bike from Ortigas Park to Bonifacio High Street (BHS). The video speed is in real time, so you can see for yourself how the ride is like. Only the stops between intersections were taken out. Watch it below!
Travelling by bike: 4.88 km in twenty minutes
Despite not having protected bike lanes, a bikethrough via the BGC – Ortigas Link Bridge still helps getting to your destination easier. It just took 20 minutes to travel end-to-end! Of course, crossing the bridge as promoted by DPWH only takes mere seconds, but the real benefit here is moving people between actual points of interest, like these two CBDs. An average leisurely pace of 17 kph will get you from Ortigas Park to Bonifacio High Street in that amount of time, including waits between stoplights and the like. It may take slightly a bit longer when rush hour traffic comes in, but hey, you’re on a bike, so that shouldn’t take long! 😉
Notable Items
The bikethrough takes us through the following roads starting from Ortigas Park. If you’re on Strava, you might want to check out this link for a better ease of viewing the route.
- Turn left from Opal Road to ADB Avenue – San Miguel Avenue
- Cross Shaw Boulevard to Sheridan Street
- Turn left to United Street
- Turn right to Brixton Street
- Turn left to Fairlane Street and proceed to Kalayaan Bridge
- Proceed straight to 8th Avenue (in Uptown Bonifacio)
- Turn right to Justicia Drive
- Turn left to 7th Avenue to Bonifacio High Street
The main entry point towards Kalayaan Bridge from the Pasig side is via Brixton Street. This is the street between the Pioneer Center (PC) mall and Ace Water Spa in Barangay Kapitolyo. At the moment, road works are being done to improve the road conditions (and possibly, road widening as well).
Once past the bridge and going down on Kalayaan Avenue, it should be an easy and chill five-minute ride towards Bonifacio High Street!
Conclusion
With the opening of the Kalayaan Bridge, commuting between the cities of Pasig and Taguig just got a lot easier and faster. You may start considering non-motorized forms of transport like bicycles now that the bridge is there! You gain freedom from toxic traffic in C-5 and EDSA with this link bridge available to, well, bridge the gap!
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