Mandaue to hold public hearing on re-routing plan for jeepneys

CEBU, Philippines - A public hearing will be conducted this Thursday afternoon at the session hall of the Mandaue City Hall to tackle the pros and cons in connection with the execution of a re-routing plan for public utility vehicles in Mandaue City.

The public hearing will be spearheaded by the committee on Transportation, Communication and Public Utilities, headed by city councilor Emiliano Rosal, in coordination with the Traffic Management Board. Expected at the hearing are jeepney drivers, operators, and the riding public.

The public hearing is a requirement before the city council enacts an ordinance making the re-routing permanent.

Earlier, the board implemented an experimental re-routing of nine routes from Lapu-lapu City, five from Liloan town, four from Consolacion town, and two each from Compostela town and Danao City so as to decongest M.C Briones Street and to serve establishments at the Reclamation Area.

An odd-even scheme, utilized in the re-routing of jeepneys, was a win-win solution.

Engr. Jomar Ostia, executive director of the Traffic Management Board, said that under the odd-even scheme, one half of the nine routes from Lapu-Lapu City and Danao City can pass MC Briones Street.

Ostia said that as part of the new route, particularly at the back of Parkmall is owned by FF Cruz so the city government cannot improve it.

However, FF Cruz is also working on its concreting and is expected to be finished soon.

Ostia also said that trucks and vans from C.D. Seno Street corner Colegio de Inmaculada will be rerouted to Logarta Street to avoid heavy traffic.

Meanwhile, Andres Rosimo, vice-president of Maribago-Soong Drivers’ Association, said he has yet to receive complaints from his 60-member drivers.

He said the new route demands the same amount of gasoline as the old route.

The Traffic Man-agement Board had implemented a one-month experimental rerouting in view of its resolution dated September 10, 2009.

The board has recommended to the city council for the implementation of an existing ordinance to allow the city-bound PUJs to pass the development route in the NRA where Parkmall, Cebu Doctors’ University (CDU), Robinland, Boardwalk, among others, are located.

CDU in a recent letter to the city said some 2,000 students from the north will benefit from the rerouting. – Flor Z. Perolina