EDITORIAL - Who does the thinking for traffic?

Normally, there used to be two destinations for northbound traffic using Plaridel Street in Mandaue City: Those going to the airport in Lapulapu City, and those going north by way of the shortcut offered by the new viaduct over Cansaga Bay. Traffic was thus heavy on Plaridel.

Recently, traffic authorities allowed only those bound for the airport to take Plaridel. Those bound for the north but intend to take the Cansaga shortcut were diverted to the National Highway. On reaching Metro Gaisano Mandaue, they are to turn right then left again to Cansaga.

This is fine for as long as you know the scheme. But traffic authorities will have to concede that not everyone knows it. Thus it is not surprising for unaware northbound motorists who find themselves on Plaridel to be forced to turn right toward Marcelo Fernan Bridge.

And if they are just as unaware that there is a diversion road that allows a turnaround under the bridge, they will have to go all the way to Lapulapu City before they can proceed to their original destination because there are no U-Turn slots on the road to the Fernan bridge.

If the intention of traffic authorities was to decongest traffic on Plaridel, then they succeeded in a way. But for such a limited success, the price is rather heavy — the hassle and inconvenience of northbound motorists who, for one reason or another, get to Plaridel by mistake.

But what really takes the lustre out of the cheap success of decongesting Plaridel is the fact that the scheme defeats the very purpose of constructing that expensive viaduct across the bay in Cansaga as part of the envisioned North Coastal Highway.

The idea is to have the shortest and quickest link from south to north. The “expressway” starts in Minglanilla, access SRP at Talisay, on to SRP proper, out through Plaza Independencia tunnel, on to North Reclamation, then Plaridel, then Cansaga, and finally out in Liloan.

But how can the “expressway” be a quick and direct link between south and north when some bright boys decided to break it at the middle and created confusing, inconvenient, and wasteful detours. It is like curing a sprain by cutting off the arm.