Only few use Mandaue bike lane, so far

CEBU, Philippines – Mandaue City’s Engineering Office is set to inspect business establishments along the bike lane on S.B. Cabahug Street.

This is to check if they have parking spaces for their customers as the dedicated bike lane might be utilized by motor vehicle owners if these establishments don’t have parking areas.

“We are requesting OBO (Office of the Building Official/Engineering) to inspect establishments along the bike lane kung naa ba sila’y parking area. Kay kung ang barriers matumba, adto na unya mo-park on top sa sidewalk,” said city planning and development coordinator Florentino Nimor.

Nimor said they have an existing ordinance which mandates all business establishments to provide their own parking space for their customers.

He said the bike lane should not also be made into a temporary parking space even if it is almost empty of bikes. He added that it should not be used as a shortcut lane for motorcycles.

The two-way bike lane has already been on a dry run since last week and will become fully operational on December 15.

According to Nimor, for the past days since it was opened, there were only a few bikers who used it.

But Nimor, who himself is a biker, said this is normal as the public has yet to be informed that their city already has such a lane for those who want to go to work on their bikes.

Nimor said they will be tapping radio communicators to help them manage the streets. They will also ask help from the girl scouts and boy scouts to guide pedestrians once the bike lane is on full swing.

He said they have designated stopping bays for public utility jeepneys, and the scouts will be asked to help assist the passengers on this aspect.

“Gamay pa ang mogamit nga bike. Ang atong objective is to promote the use of bicycles, so at first wa kaayo’y bikes mogamit. Sa una pa, daghan mo-bike pero way bike line, it’s unsafe for them to use the road. Now we are providing the bike lane first, then we tell the bikers that it is already there for their use,” said Nimor. (FREEMAN)