Welcome to The Traffic Capital of Pangasinan

Getting stuck in traffic is such a bummer. It's a huge inconvenience for everyone because a huge chunk of our time is wasted. Such a huge disadvantage especially for businesses which requires transporting goods, materials, etc. There was a report which says billions of Pesos were lost due to traffic congestion in Manila. (Firms decry P43.47-B losses to heavy traffic) Traffic congestion is a serious matter that must be resolved as it brings a negative economic impact which is also why road widening, building new flyovers, and other improvements on transportation were being made especially in Manila to ease up the traffic.

Hello, everyone! Finally, I am able to participate again with ASEAN Hive Community Weekly Challenge. It's been a while, huh!

Welcome to the Philippines, where Traffic Congestion is one of My Country's Biggest Problems. Well, Manila traffic is already so overrated. Let's go somewhere I'm more familiar. My hometown, Calasiao, the Traffic Capital of Pangasinan.

_{Screenshot from IFM Dagupan via Facebook}

The Calasiao junction/intersection where the Dagupan-Calasiao-Sta.Barbara intersect, in my observation, has the worst traffic congestion in the province of Pangasinan. Not even the traffic at the Carmen Bridge in Rosales, Pangasinan can compete to it. @leannwithdoublen was a witness to it when we were on our way to Calasiao to eat dinner last March. Lol. I think we were able to pass through the junction after 30 minutes.

This intersection is widely used by motorists because it connects big cities in the province. Buses going to and from Manila also pass by this intersection.

Over the years, our family has observed that a traffic congestion builds up when there are traffic enforcers directing the flow of traffic. When there are no enforcers around, the junction was free from congestion. Vehicles just take turns crossing. Weird, huh? Instead of being helpful, it seems like having enforcers around made it worse.

That has been the norm for more than two decades in the Calasiao junction or "crossing", as other commuters would commonly call it. However, after the pandemic, the traffic congestion has reached its worst. Honestly, I don't know what happened. Maybe there's an increase in vehicles passing through? There's traffic build up even without the presence of the enforcers. And it's a lot worse when they're on duty.

Due to this problem, some were having second thoughts going to our town which is why it's important to allot some extra time to make sure you'll arrive on time to your destination. Whenever I go out to do my groceries, I always prefer to do it on a weekend because there's less traffic. And if on a weekday, I make sure to avoid rush hours and always make sure that I'll be home before 4 P.M.

I remember back in 2022 when some of my high school classmates went to pick me up at home for a little reunion. My high school best friend sent me a message that they're already on their way to my home. Without traffic, it would only take them less than 5 minutes. But due to heavy traffic, it took them more than half an hour to arrive.

Thankfully, the new elected officials in our town have finally installed traffic lights at the junction. Actually, there was already an existing traffic lights before but they were only operational for a few months. That was more than two decades ago. The newly installed ones had time counters which was much better.

_{Screenshot from Wow Calasiao via Facebook}

While traffic congestion is still there, I had observed that it has lighten up compared to no traffic lights. Last week, it only took around 2 minutes to pass through the intersection.

However, traffic is still heavy during rush hour.

I took this photo last June when we were back from Manila. I wasn't able to track how long we were stuck at the junction but it almost felt like forever. It was around 4:30 P.M. We were so eager to reach the bus unloading area at the junction because thunder has begun roaring in the sky and rain would pour any time soon.

Well, we were able to reach the fast food chain before the rain poured but we were met by strong rain on our way home. If it wasn't for the heavy traffic, we could've made it home before it rained.

Anyway, at least the traffic lights have eased up the traffic a bit, except during rush hours. I hope it's just a first step for our local government finding a solution to fix this perennial road problem because getting stuck in traffic is a real test of patience as well. We all know some road rage are caused by being impatient on the road due to traffic.

That's all! Let's just hope that the people in position would truly have their best interest for their town or city and be proactive in solving problems for everyone's convenience.