Mandaue bike lane opens this month

CEBU, Philippines - Those who are eager to use the new bike lane of Mandaue City can be assured of its opening this month.

This was relayed by City Planning and Development Coordinator Florentino Nimor to The FREEMAN.

The said bike lane, which is along S.B. Cabahug Street, was supposed to be open to the public last December 15 but did not push through to make way for the repair and concreting of A. Soriano Street.

Once the repair starts, the SB Cabahug will become an alternative route for vehicles from a closed lane on A. Soriano.

Nimor said if they will go ahead with the bike lane while A. Soriano is repaired, chances are SB Cabahug, if it is used as a detour route, will be crammed with vehicles. This is dangerous to bikers, he said.

The city had already made a dry-run of this two-meter , two-way bike lane a few weeks before the scheduled implementation, but the barriers (small plastic drums filled with cement) were later on moved to the side road when the grand launching, slated on December 15, was cancelled.

The CPDC chief however assured the bikers that they will open it to them once they have found other ways to declog the traffic along A. Soriano and its neighboring streets while the repair is done.

Under the contract, the repair takes 300 days, although PB Obial, the winning bidder, assured that they can finish the project in three to four months' time.  (FREEMAN)