Cebu City to have bike lanes soon

CEBU, Philippines - After more than eight months of waiting, cyclists in Cebu City now have a reason to rejoice.

The City Council yesterday passed an ordinance providing for shared priority bike lanes in designated roads here.

Bikers who attended the final deliberation of the proposed ordinance cheered loudly after presiding officer, speaker pro tempore Nestor Archival, banged the gavel for the measure's approval.

Ryan Noval, founder of Critical Mass Cebu and Cebu Fixed Gear, said their agony of waiting finally ended.

"Mixed emotion gyod mi because we have been fighting for this. We can now perceive that Cebu is really moving forward," he said.

"The ordinance will really work for the benefit of Cebu City's constituents. This is for those who ride their bikes going to work, to school, for pandays, this is not for professional cyclist but for ordinary people who know how to navigate the streets," he added.

Councilor Nida Cabrera, the author of the ordinance, said the shared priority bike lanes will promote "livability and cleaner environment".

"Cebu has an increasing number of bikers, but their safety on road has never been heard," she said stressing that the shared priority road lanes are "more reliable and feasible."

She said there is a dire need to establish shared bike lanes and bike-friendly zones in order to safeguard bikers from accident and other road-related incidents.

She added that it is a startup for off-road bike lanes (under this scheme, bicycle paths are put up away from vehicular traffic) and dedicated bike lanes or paths dedicated for bicycle routes.

The ordinance, named "The Tindak Sugbo Lanes Ordinance", aims to establish shared priority lanes or zones where priority is given to bikes and other human-powered vehicles.

These areas will be marked with a shared-lane marking or "sharrow", defined as a 1.5-meter-wide pavement marking, which will be installed on the rightmost side of the road to indicate where bikers or cyclists could cruise.

This way, they will avoid the "door zone" of parked cars and motorists will be alerted to share the road with bikers and to make known that the street is a shared priority bike route.

The ordinance also states that bikers will be allocated with parking areas.

The Tindak Sugbo Board will determine the streets where the lanes will be established. The board will review the city's transportation master plan, among others.

Section 9 of the proposed ordinance gives the Tindak Sugbo Board the mandate to create rules and regulations for the implementation of the shared priority bike lanes program, create bike educational campaign program, and perform necessary actions to effectively implement the ordinance.

Meanwhile, the Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW), in coordination with the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management, will establish the necessary road or traffic signs in the designated areas.

Mayor Michael  Rama is elated on the approval of the ordinance, but emphasized that roads must be evaluated thoroughly.

"There should be observance of care and not too sweeping and fast in having it fully implemented. It has to be with practicability, conscious as to the importance of safety and security," he said.

He believed that shared priority bike lanes will not cause traffic congestion if CITOM, DEPW, City Planning and Development Office will plan the implementation carefully. —  (FREEMAN)