Traffic
As the Cebu City government attends to the traffic problems in the Ban-Tal corridor, the flow of vehicles in the south-bound artery along N. Bacalso Avenue continues to be a pain in the neck for motorists, especially during peak hours. On weekdays try driving along this route between 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. and you'd be lucky to make it in 30 minutes to Bulacao, a distance of less than six kilometers from the south bus terminal. What's the problem?
It's not that there are just too many vehicles. It's that there's no adequate control of vehicle movements because of the absence of traffic personnel. On some occasions you could spot some of them (usually in the Osmeña Boulevard-P. del Rosario junction), but after this even their shadows cannot be seen. At times such shadows lurk somewhere in dark street-sides, perhaps trying to catch unwary motorists for violations. But why the non-visibility?
Because there's no one to catch them PUJ's stop to pick up or dislodge passengers even near the middle of the road. This does not only endanger commuters but also impedes the flow of traffic. Vehicles parked along roadsides also obstruct traffic. It's a no parking stretch (the signs say this) but for unknown reasons private or government vehicles can be seen using road-shoulders as garage. Proof of these are the vehicles of barangay Bulacao parked right in front of its hall beside the road. The government violating its own traffic rules? No wonder it can't enforce road discipline.
As one enters the vicinity of Bulacao barangay hall the flow of traffic is almost at a snail's pace. The reason is that PUJ's are disembarking commuters in front of a fast-food joint and after this point in front of a shopping center. There's no violation here, but it ought to be that commercial centers of similar category built along major arteries should be required to have an off-road area for loading and unloading passengers. If commercial buildings are required to have built-in parking spaces, why not an open area adjacent to the road for unloading or loading of commuters.
In front of this shopping center left-turning vehicles going to St. Jude Acres also cause traffic. Again the absence of traffic controller is the culprit. However, such absence could have been mitigated if there's a traffic control mechanism. But there's none. (If the good mayor, Mike Rama, can do something about this, countless motorists would sing halleluiah to him.)
The ride from Bulacao to Cebu City at peak hours in the morning and evening is usually tolerable. But there's a problem in the Mambaling intersection leading to SRP. Here cars, jeeps, trucks, and other conveyances coming from five roadways converge and confront each other for an opening. Luckily, there's always a traffic enforcer in the area and chaos is avoided. But it would be good if there's a traffic light installed there to reinforce the efforts of the traffic officer or in his absence, to control the passage of vehicles.
The intersection at the spot near a gigantic mall under construction also needs a traffic light, more so because the presence of a CITOM personnel is a rarity there. It's an accident prone section because of high speeding vehicles to and from Cebu City. Presently, even with the mall still unfinished, build-up of vehicles occurs. Once shoppers gravitate towards this place months from today, frequent jampacking of carriers is a certainty.
The south coastal highway is no doubt a boon to motorists. There vehicles move smoothly in both directions. However, there have been many occasions when a total standstill happened. The reason: vehicular accident at the viaduct or simply a stalled machine. The thing is, the passageway is so narrow that if anything happens to a passing conveyance, this either blocks the route or reduces it to one lane. Architectural defect?
In general traffic in Cebu City and Metro Cebu is still not much of a headache like that in Manila. But if the incumbent leaders do not do something, motoring in these areas would be a frustrating experience.
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