Situation in N. Bacalso Avenue: Monster traffic blamed on TRO

CEBU, Philippines — The lack of contingency plans and the supposed reckless decision to pursue the underpass project are reasons why heavy traffic is being experienced on N. Bacalso Avenue and Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella is putting the blame on the present administration.

“What is frustrating is that this situation could have been avoided if certain city officials had exercised more prudence and not plunged recklessly into undertaking a project that had been shelved by the previous administration because both the proponents and the implementing agency had no contingency plans to mitigate the traffic that we were certain the construction of the Mambaling tunnel would bring about and which we are experiencing today,” Labella’s statement reads.

He said that his group, the Barug Partrido ng Demokratikong Pilipino-Laban (Barug PDP-Laban), has since suggested that alternate routes should be identified first and roads should be widened to avoid traffic problems.

When the P638 million underpass project was introduced in 2015, former mayor Michael Rama objected to it because diversion routes were dilapidated and roads have not been widened.

Rama lost the mayorship to Tomas Osmeña in the 2016 elections.

“We demanded then that alternate routes be developed and access roads widened before the DPWH would give the contractor the notice to proceed. But for reasons that only the mayor could explain, as soon as he took over, he disregarded our previous warnings and prodded the DPWH to start the project of his political ally, the Cebu City south congressman, without asking for traffic mitigating measures. That was, and remains, unforgivable,” Labella said.

Since the project began in August 2017, heavy traffic is experienced on N. Bacalso Avenue. Only one lane is open for northbound vehicles and buses going south have been diverted to the Cebu South Coastal Road at the South Road Properties (SRP).

The Talisay City government, too, wants its public utility jeepneys to pass through the SRP in traveling to Cebu City.

While he supports the move, Labella criticized the call of Mayor Tomas Osmeña to place the area under a state of emergency so that jeepneys can access the SRP.

“The “state of emergency” that the mayor now wants the City Council to declare should be viewed in this light. He now projects himself as a monster slayer when the truth is that he is the monster’s father,” he said.

Osmeña is in Singapore for a personal trip.

Earlier, Councilor David Tumulak who chairs the committee on public order and safety said he will sponsor the resolution for the declaration of a state of emergency.

However, he said, traffic signs should be in place before jeepneys are allowed at the SRP.

“Dapat naa gyu’y designated lanes for them and dapat mo-observe sa speed limit,” Tumulak said.

Councilor Jerry Guardo, chairman of the Council’s committee on infrastructure, said the project is being funded by the national government and was reportedly already for implementation when presented to the Council.

He asked that city’s traffic group to deploy more traffic personnel in the area and the project’s contractor to work until night if only to fast track construction.

At least 12 enforcers are manning traffic in the area.

Department of Public Works and Highways-7 project engineer Roy Dela Cruz told The FREEMAN that working hours are now from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. starting last Friday. (FREEMAN)