EDITORIAL - Bad roads make road shortage even worse

Becoming a more frequent topic these days is the fact about Cebu fast becoming the second Metro Manila in terms of traffic. But the prospect of Cebu becoming the next Metro Manila in terms of traffic is even more terrifying on account of at least two things. One, it is not the seat of power that Metro Manila is and will therefore never be prioritized in the allocation of big ticket road projects. Two, it does not have the room for expansion that Luzon, where Metro Manila is, has.

So, what do we do under the circumstances? Nothing. It is pointless to prod the authorities to do something. It is even more so to criticize them when you know their thinking never goes beyond the short-lived and the temporary, like implementing reroutings. When you have too many vehicles fighting for space in a constriscted and never-expanding road network, all that rerouting does is shift the flow of traffic from one place to the other. But the traffic is still there.

Next to doing nothing, we might as well try to make the best of an unchanging situation. For example, since the roads we have are the roads we will be stuck with forever, might as well make them worthy of our long-term companionship. If roads are wives (or husbands, for that matter), and we are destined to be partners for life, might as well make them attractive and good-looking, healthy and fit, neat and tidy, and friendly and fun to be with.

It does not take intelligence for the authorities to do that. All it takes is some physical effort, some diligence, but a lot of common sense. For instance, Cebu City has seen some road improvement activities over the last year or so. Some major road arteries that used to be paved in asphalt have been paved over in concrete. Some have been widened.

Unfortunately, it is honestly very difficult to consider these activities as real improvements. For while it is true that some roads have been concreted over, a run through them will tell you the work had been shoddy at best. The concrete surfaces are very uneven that passing through them gives you the experience of sailing in rough seas -- you get shaken all over.

And why is this? Because to the authorities, it is good enough that a road has been paved over in concrete. It never occurred to them that the quality of the surfacing also matters. But then, what can one really expect from the authorities whose measurements in the first place have always been subpar. When the measuring device is defective or substandard, so will the output or the product.

A classic example of this "pinadagan" mentality is the road around Fuente. Fuente Osmeña is one of the iconic landmarks of Cebu. If other roads have to be bad, at least the road around Fuente should be the hallmark of Cebuano pride. But try driving around the rotunda and you can get a toothache from the jarring experience. Why? Because there is no demand for excellence. Every shoddy work is accepted. Try driving around Fuente, then go on to B. Rodriguez and notice the difference.