With the MRT7 project construction ongoing, residents of the areas where stations or tracks would be built are affected by the traffic surrounding it. One public road, Commonwealth Avenue, is an example.
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With the trees now gone, which are now replaced by concrete and erected posts, daily commuters couldn’t help but reminisce their daily views of their respective routes – long before the project started.
Sam Manalili was able to capture how Commonwealth Avenue looked like before and now – the photo on the left, taken last 2016, shows beautiful shadows of the trees casting on the roads as the sun sank. The other photo, taken just recently, showed that the trees are no longer there, the construction of the project fresh and bare.
Oh Commonwealth, I miss your trees pic.twitter.com/ko20H8OgqD
— sam (@s4mmnll) May 26, 2018
WHEN IN MANILA has reached out to Manalili for details.
So the first photo was taken on the UP overpass almost two years ago, Nov. 16, 2016. I was on my way home and I just remember being tired that week. It was almost finals week and everything was super hectic. Seeing the view, I was just in awe at how the sun made everything look so golden. It was very calming for me and it was helpful in releasing the anxiety that I was feeling then. And then I remembered that this view would be soon gone, since the MRT-7 project has just commenced. I just knew that I had to preserve this moment.
Fast forward to 2018. The MRT-7 project is now well underway. Commonwealth traffic has become a nightmare and the relaxing trees are now replaced with steel and concrete. I was only able to pass by the same overpass recently and I remembered taking a photo on that same overpass (just not the same direction). I wanted to see and compare how much has changed in two years.
Manalili tells WHEN IN MANILA that after posting, many other netizens also share the same sentiments.
The trees were a major part of this road. For me, personally, the trees are a welcome sight on the way home. After traversing the concrete jungle of EDSA, entering Q. Ave (after Agham Rd., alam niyo ‘to!!) to be welcomed by trees on both sides with the monument in the distance. There’s just such a Q.C. vibe to it, and you know that you’re almost home.
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Disclaimer: WheninManila.com does not own these photos. Credits go to Sam Manalili.
