New mall opening but CCTO says traffic won’t be as heavy

CEBU, Philippines - Another mall is set to open on December 10, but traffic authorities are not so worried it will cause widespread heavy traffic in Cebu City.

To prevent heavy traffic, the Cebu City Transportation Office asked Robinsons Galleria Cebu to submit its traffic plan.

CCTO operations chief Jonathan Tumulak said that the traffic plan of Robinsons Galleria Cebu is important to ensure smooth flow of traffic near the corner of S. Osmeña Road and General Maxilom Extension where the mall is located.

“As of now, gi-call nato ang attention sa in-charge sa traffic and security (of the mall) ka’y wa pa sila ka-submit sa ilang traffic plan sud sa ilang compound para makahibaw ta kun asa ang entrance ug exits, kinsa’y makasud sa entrance ug exit, mao na amo gipangita ron,” Tumulak said.

He said the traffic plan of the mall will be the basis of how the CCTO will manage the traffic outside the mall premises.

However, Tumulak said he is confident that the heavy traffic that happened in the South Road Properties last Friday after a mall opened will not happen again in the area of Robinsons Galleria Cebu because of location differences.

He while no public utility jeepneys ply routes in the SRP, there are some PUJs plying routes near Robinsons Galleria Cebu.

“Di ko maka-expect nga traffic ang opening sa Galleria kay daghan dan diha sa North Reclamation area nga roads… naay S. Osmeña Boulevard, Benedicto Street, J. De Vera Street, J. Briones Street,” Tumulak said.

However, he said the traffic plan is still needed in anticipation of the thousands of people expected to swarm the opening of the mall.

CCTO acting head Rafael Yap said his office is not anticipating much traffic congestion with the opening of Robinsons Galleria Cebu as the area has signalized intersections.

Yap said CCTO already asked the mall to set back their property to allow an loading and unloading space for the PUJs. He said this is one way to prevent congestion as PUJ drivers are asked to go inside the property of the mall with the unloading and loading provision.

For SM Seaside City in the SRP, Tumulak said the traffic plan is in place.

He said traffic in the SRP is improving because SM already opened its four-level parking space which can accommodate 4,000 vehicles.

When the mall opened last November 27 the management opened only the basement parking. With this, Tumulak said some areas in the SRP experienced moderate traffic while other areas experienced heavy traffic.

He also said several vehicles were noticed at the junction of Mambaling Access Road up to the SRP, he added this can be attributed to the ongoing road asphalting initiated by SM Prime Holdings, Inc. along Vestil Street, he said.

“Ang nahitabo man gud ron dili na level ang road ug ang kaning entrance sa mall. Paubos man ilang dan so mohinay og su’d ang mga sakyananan kay mahadlok sila masagyad,” he said, adding that he already talked with the management of the mall to put steel plates between the asphalted road and the entrance of the mall.

The asphalting is conducted during nighttime, he said.

Tumulak said the mall is eyeing to finish the roadwork within the week as it is seen to further address the traffic congestion in the area.

He said the mall has already prohibited parking along Church Avenue, the road leading to the San Pedro Calungsod Chapel.

“Makatabang ang dili pag park og sakyanan sa Church Avenue kay usa man to sa naka-cause ug traffic kay dugay makasud ang mga sakyanan, hinay ilang dagan kay naay parking sa isig kakilid,” he said.

Last Friday CCTO deployed 30 personnel, but starting yesterday only 15 were assigned in the area as traffic is seen to improve. — /BRP (FREEMAN)