Carantes Street to be used as ‘shared street’ after upgrade

Carantes Street will be used as a shared street once the streetscape development is completed.
A shared street is an urban design concept where a roadway is shared by pedestrians and motorists.
The ongoing streetscape development includes the rehabilitation of the entire stretch of Carantes St. and the improvement of a portion of Perfect St.
The project aims to create an environment where people will be involved in “different social, cultural, and tourism activities.”
The rehabilitation of Carantes St. includes the installation of tactile blocks; rehabilitation of the drainage; and installation of solarized road studs, solar powered bollards, chair bollards, solar power lamp posts, steel grates for runoff water, and a temperature box scanner.
Perfecto St. will also be installed with solar powered road studs and solar powered lamp posts. A grandfather’s clock will be placed in one of the mini-gardens. The design incorporates a bioretention drainage system.
Included in the development is the conversion of the space underneath the overpass abutting TiongSan Building into a ramp for the differently-abled.
Engr. Dominador Matbagan, representative of the CEO, said during the Oct. 24 session of the city council that the development does not intend to permanently close Carantes St. to vehicles, contrary to the claim of a concerned citizen who had earlier called the attention of the city council.
Matbagan said the two streets will not be fully pedestrianized since they are used as service roads leading to some major roads in the central business district.
He also assured the city council that a window period will be given to business owners along Carantes St. for the loading and unloading of their merchandise.
The project is also considered as a traffic calming measure.
Traffic calming is the use of physical design and other measures to deliberately slow down the speed of vehicles to ensure the safety of motorists and pedestrians. 
Carantes St. is a city road with a width of eight meters. After the development, the roadway will be reduced to three to 3.5 meters. – Jordan G. Habbiling