Turn our four-lane roads into four-lane roads

 I was driving along the Banilad Road at around 7:20pm last night on my way to our Rotary Board meeting and traffic was unusually heavy starting at the flyover at the corner of Arch. Reyes Ave. and Juan Luna Ave. I found it strange because it wasn’t raining at that time and there were no accidents to slow traffic down. The culprits were: too many taxis were making U-turns anywhere, too many cars were parked along the road and yes, Cebu’s car population must have already increased in volume.

 Plus, when Mayor Michael Rama assumed office, he ordered all the barrier fences that the Cebu City Traffic Operations & Management (CITOM) installed since the early 90s removed for no apparent reason. Because these barriers are no longer there, pedestrians cross the street anywhere they like, causing more danger to the pedestrians and slowing traffic along the major streets of Cebu City.

 A week ago, we wrote an article reminding Mayor Mike Rama of the Metro Cebu Land Use and Transportation Studies (MCLUTS), which originally was done by then UP Prof. Primitivo Cal because apparently, the Mayor was opposed to the “new” flyovers that were earmarked for construction in Cebu City. Hence, he demanded from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Rogelio Singson to stop the construction of more two-lane flyovers, until the DPWH first conducts a Transportation Master Plan and study alternative solutions too the current “horrendous” traffic problem in the city. Again, MCLUTS was our master plan!

 It was obvious to me that Mayor Mike did not know about the MCLUTS study or perhaps his advisers failed to remind him that these so-called “new” flyovers were not exactly new as DPWH is merely implementing these projects to help ease the traffic in our heavily congested city. Mayor Mike doesn’t like two lane flyovers, but if you studied our national roads more thoroughly, there is logic in putting up two lane flyovers in a four lane roadway simply because at the intersection, there has to be room for right or left turning vehicles that pass under the flyover.

 I know that there is a group trying to advise Mayor Mike Rama to block the construction of more flyovers opting to widen our roads instead. But these amateur traffic advisers of the Mayor obviously do not know how this centralized government works. First, budgets are tight, especially under the Aquino administration, wherein Cebu has yet to see new infrastructure plans that emanate from the Aquino government. As of now, the DPWH is merely implementing what was already planned for Cebu City, which was already planned at least 10 years ago.

 I’d like to reiterate that the proposed flyover at the corner of Gen. Maxilom (Mango) Avenue and M.J. Cuenco was one of the first intersections that I asked the DPWH to consider. Now that finally the DPWH will construct one along that intersection, Mayor Mike Rama writes a letter to DPWH to block it? Doesn’t he know that if you block an infrastructure project that already has a budget, the funds would be reverted to the General Fund of the National Government? Sayang!

 I have been a director with CITOM for so many years and was its chairman from 2001 to 2004. Just because I’m no longer in traffic management doesn’t mean that I don’t care anymore about our traffic problems. On the contrary, I have been observing our problems and if Mayor Mike Rama (this goes as well for Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes) wants a smoother traffic flow, all he needs to do is strictly enforce a No-Parking rule along the Banilad-Talamban Road. This also goes for AS Fortuna Ave. in Mandaue City. By the way, when will they widen H. Cortes huh?

 When we created the Metro Cebu Development Programs 1 & 2 (MCDP) and widened B. Rodriguez St., V. Rama Ave. and constructed the New Imus Road, including the widening of A.S. Fortuna and the Banilad Road, Cebu City and Mandaue agreed never to allow streetside parking in these roads, of which the government spent so much with the high expropriation costs. But that was many Mayors ago.

 Today, if traffic is bad along V. Rama Ave. or A.S. Fortuna Ave. it is due to the fact that vehicles are parked along the road. It was as if the national government paid a person to expropriate the land along the road so that he could now use it as his own private parking space. Take a good look along A. S. Fortuna and ask yourself… is this really a four-lane road? I’m sure you know that there are only two usable lanes on most of our four lane roads. So if Mayor Mike Rama or Mayor Jonas wants to get rid of horrendous traffic, they can start by enforcing traffic rules and turn our four lane roads, into what they were designed to be… four-lane roads.

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