A once-over for the flyover

I have always believed that when it comes to infrastructure solutions to our traffic problems, elevated skyways represent the best option we have, given the urban circumstances that we face.

 Unfortunately, the cost of elevated skyways such as the ones they have in Metro Manila is prohibitive. And some of the other options we are left with do not really work. On the contrary, they can even exacerbate the problem.

 The next best thing to an elevated skyway as an infrastructure solution to the traffic problem is the flyover. That is because a flyover is essentially a skyway in itself, only that it is a truncated version.

 Unlike traffic rerouting, which only shunts traffic congestion from one sector of an overburdened road network to another, a skyway or flyover helps decongest traffic at a given area by easing it on site. It does not transplant the burden to become a problem somewhere else.

 A skyway or flyover is not as obtrusive as it appears. The direction of its construction is upward. And the space its mass occupies is not palpable enough to be a hindrance to expected demands for free movement within its environs.

 It is not like road widening which has been proven to be a great and costly failure, at least in the areas where they have been implemented. Not only has road widening failed to solve traffic congestion, it actually has resulted in its worsening.

 This is because the additional lanes that have been acquired through road widening have all been promptly expropriated by vehicle owners who do not have garages and who find convenient use for the added lanes as their own perfect and free parking spaces.

 As a result, supposedly widened roads have shrunk back to their original cramped widths, but not before government already spent considerable amounts of serious money acquiring land for the purpose.

 Of course there are other, non-infrastructure-related solutions that could possibly help solve our festering traffic problems. They come in the form of regulatory measures that could be adopted by the agencies concerned, or in pieces of legislation that may be enacted.

 But the problem with regulatory measures or legislated rules lies with implementation. The best intentions embodied in the best of laws will amount to nothing if they are not enforced according to specifications.

 Indeed there is already a surfeit of laws and rules all meant to introduce sanity in our streets. But either because of non-implementation or selective imposition, or worse, due to corruption, these laws and rules have all fallen by the wayside, ignored and forgotten.

 Aside from regulatory measures and legislated pieces, there can also be attitudinal initiatives meant to reshape human character and the way people approach their responsibilities as road users. But there is not much enthusiasm for them. And they take too long.

 So we are back to infrastructure-based solutions. But as Cebu is not ready for a skyway, we are left with flyovers as the most practical option. What I learned is that Rep. Cutie del Mar has already sourced P600 million for two flyovers in her district.

 Del Mar is proposing to fund construction of a flyover at MJ Cuenco and Gen. Maxilom, and another at Arch. Reyes and Gorordo. Some may like the plan and some may not. But the world will not wait for us as we try to resolve the impasse.

An impasse is simply not an option. The longer we wait, the worse the problem becomes. Remember, there is an unrestrained introduction of new vehicles into the road network everyday. So, do we tarry, or do we do? I say let’s do it. Let’s build them flyovers.