Mall mgt raises transport concerns to city gov’t

CEBU, Philippines - Hybrid bus priority lanes, upgraded traffic lights, completion of road development projects and traffic flow in certain areas, among others, were the concerns raised in a letter by management of SM Supermalls to the Cebu City government in its implementation of the High Quality Public Transport System (HQTPS).

SM Supermalls Regional Operations Manager in Visayas Sherry Tuvilla addressed her letter to lawyer Rafael Yap, the Project Manager of Bus Rapid Transit implementation unit and the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management executive director. The letter was copy furnished to different offices of the city government.

Tuvilla requested the BRT Technical Working Group to look into their concerns to meet the conditions set forth by the Department of Transportation and Communication and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, adding that their conditions will have to be considered in the implementation of the BRT project that will be operational by 2018.

DOTC has recently approved the HQPTS, which was proposed by SM Prime Holdings Inc., which aims to operate a high quality bus service from Talisay City Hall to Mactan Cebu Airport.

HQPTS is a system that would transport the public, in anticipation of the opening of the SM Seaside City complex at the South Road Properties this year.

The routes of the HQPTS include Talisay City to Mambaling, Talisay to North Bus Terminal, Talisay to Mactan Cebu Airport and North Bus Terminal to Mambaling.

For the traffic flow, SM has made a few requests, including: Mambaling link turn around along N. Bacalso St. with priority signalization; no left turns in SRP coastal road; and the island opening to allow buses to enter the mall from Cebu along Mambaling.

The letter further raised concerns on the status of the Mambaling Road expansion, SRP road development timeline, signalization along the coastal area and Mambaling, among others.

The hybrid buses will traverse mainly along SRP and will be an interim transport to supplement the BRT.

As of now, there is no public transport plying the SRP route which allegedly leads to the illegal proliferation of colorum vehicles that transport passengers from the Senior Citizen’s Park to Talisay City or SRP for P10.

The HQPTS is seen to accommodate maximum passengers of 1,347,000 a week, broken down into 175,000 on weekdays, 237,000 on Saturdays and 235,000 on Sundays.

Based on the agreement, there would be 69 buses to be deployed to “serve the demand and fulfill service requirements” for the first year of operations.

For the road completion, Tuvilla specifically mentioned the S. Osmeña Boulevard rehabilitation project. She asked the DPWH to complete the project before August, before the mall will open since it is one of the roads that the hybrid buses will traverse on.

In a related development, Mayor Michael Rama said he had a meeting with the SM City Cebu management and the city’s Department of Engineering and Public Works on the S. Osmeña Boulevard rehabilitation project.

Rama said there are many things to be done before the opening of S. Osmeña Boulevard such as street lighting, demolition of Cebu Port Authority’s fence, and speed limit to avoid accidents. He wants all of these to be implemented on March 15.

Further, he said he wants to see colorful streets before June 12.

The contractor of DPWH is currently working on the concreting projects along S. Osmeña Boulevard.

CITOM operations chief Jonathan Tumulak said that DPWH closed the portion of Sotto and S. Osmeña intersection yesterday.

Tumulak said the ongoing works at the area will last for two weeks, but he is confident that traffic will not be affected.

He said that additional traffic enforcers are being deployed to assist motorists.

“Ang katong from M.C Cuenco nga mo-adto og Pier 3, no access pa. So, they can take Palma Street agi and lapos sa Arellano Street,” he said.  (FREEMAN)