EDITORIAL - Concrete planning is all we need

As the battle over the construction of two flyovers in Cebu City heightened, parties that are against and in favor of the projects have shifted their focus to the masses. The two sides have brought their respective arguments to the public by launching signature campaigns.

Amid the brouhaha surrounding the matter, the City Council passed a resolution supporting the construction of a flyover along Gorordo Avenue and along M.J. Cuenco Avenue. The development was so far the biggest triumph scored by the proponents of the projects. 

The biggest winner was, of course, north district Representative Rachel “Cutie” del Mar, the main proponent of the projects. The congresswoman thanked the councilors for helping the government cope with the “persistently annoying and wasteful traffic problem” in those areas where the flyovers are planned.

Yes the city lawmakers are right in saying that these flyovers cannot solve the traffic problems in those areas. But, on the other hand, we cannot also say they are just band-aid solutions to the gridlock.

These flyovers will undeniably serve a purpose of easing traffic along the two mentioned avenues. By saying that, we do not, however, mean they are already the ultimate solution to the problem.

But, at least, they prevent congestion when motorists converge at those corners since a big volume will use the flyovers, thus stopping is no longer needed. Besides, financial resources for their construction are already available, which makes flyovers easy to implement. 

In the same way, we cannot also say road widening is the only solution to the problem. While we definitely need to widen our roads, this is not really a guarantee. Widened roads will someday be consumed by the increasing volume of vehicles as Metro Cebu evolves into a mega center.

Solving traffic problems won’t really come in the form of widened roads or sprouting flyovers. It requires a far more concrete planning, whose effectiveness must be long-term. Any of these two ideas – flyover and road widening – is just part of the design.