EDITORIAL - Mandaue City underpass

After addressing issues surrounding its feasibility, the Department of Public Works and Highways will finally start today the construction of an underpass in Mandaue City. This despite opposition from different quarters.

Since the budget has already been prepared, the project was supposed to commence months ago. But it hit several snags as some officials at the Regional Development Council questioned its viability in solving the traffic problem along that stretch of the United Nations Avenue.

Besides, some in the business sector in the city reportedly expressed fears about their establishments’ accessibility being affected by the underpass. Then there was the issue about the credibility of the contractor that would undertake the project.

But it seems all is well and the DPWH is now laying the groundworks for the underpass. In fact, since the budget is no longer a problem, public works Secretary Mark Villar is seeing to it that the project will push through as planned.

As the project begins, the public, especially the Mandauehanons, should give it a chance. While many of them, do not see the underpass as the ultimate solution to the traffic problem in the area, nothing is lost if they give it a try.

The project has undergone extensive studies by the DPWH and other concerned agencies. So Mandauehanons should expect it to serve its purpose, which is to ease traffic along that portion of the United Nations Avenue leading to the Marcelo Fernan Bridge.

The only concern that the public should anticipate is the traffic problem that the project’s construction will create, a scene that would be similar to that of Barangay Mambaling and surrounding areas in Cebu City where another underpass is being built.

What the Mandaue City government should prioritize is to devise a plan that will lessen the effects of the underpass construction to the public for them to avoid experiencing the harrowing traffic situation that those in Cebu City are presently facing.