Town to impose new truck ban

CEBU, Philippines – Vehicles carrying more than 4.5 tons of cargo will now be strictly banned from using the national highway and Tayud Provincial Road in Consolacion town during specified hours of the day.

This after the Consolacion Municipal Council has passed an ordinance imposing the truck ban against vehicles carrying loads of more than the 4,500-kilo limit on gross weight, as well as six-wheeler trucks, passing and using national roads and provincial roads in the town.

The town's police and traffic commission will monitor the strict implementation of the truck ban, municipal officials said.

With the implementation of the ordinance, officials in Consolacion hope this will address the traffic congestion experiences in the town.

Under the ordinance, the truck ban will start from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. and from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. During these hours, the national highway and the said provincial road will also be "no parking zones."

However, the following are exempt from the ordinance: passenger trucks carrying petroleum and other related products, delivery vans carrying rice and other perishable items as fish, vegetables, dairy and poultry products and frozen meat products, animal feeds and export goods, garbage trucks, military trucks, ambulances and government trucks transporting materials or goods for a government project.

Trucks or delivery vans operating during Saturdays, Sundays and holidays shall also be exempted from the truck ban.

The ordinance says the traffic congestion in northern Metro Cebu, particularly along the roads and highways in Consolacion town and neighboring cities of Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu and the town of Cordova, has now reached an alarming proportion.

Though statistics were not provided, officials said this congestion is threatening the area's economic boom.

In Liloan, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu, related ordinances were also passed.