Parties brace for effects of bridge repair

CEBU, Philippines - While the repair of Mandaue-Mactan Bridge has been postponed, stakeholders in the cities of Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue are now preparing for the effects once it pushes through.

Yesterday, Cebu sixth district Representative Luigi Quisumbing led a meeting with Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes and representatives from the Department of Public Works and Highways-7, Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Traffic Enforcement Agency of Mandaue (TEAM). 

During the meeting, MCCI expressed concerns over the traffic situation caused by the bridge repair.

Girlie Garces, business affairs and communications officer of San Miguel Corporation, said the horrendous traffic would affect the punctuality of their employees.

Garces said some of their employees leave their homes very early but still end up being late due to heavy traffic.

She asked concerned agencies about the exact dates when the (one) lane of the Mandaue-Mactan bridge would be closed.

“We appreciate this meeting with the Congressman and the rest of other stakeholders because we appreciate their wanting to coordinate with us in all this activities so among gi-expect klaro nga information, klaro ang time, klaro kanus-a magsugod para kung pananglitan man gani magsugod nata makapangandam na sad ta early on,” according to Garces.

Truck ban

 MCCI has appealed to TEAM if it can reduce the time of the truck ban in Mandaue City.

It said while the truck ban is good for commuters, is not applicable to some of its members, especially those who are in the trucking business.

The MCCI officers noted that the delivery of their products is delayed since the trucks stop for three hours before they can pass through Mandaue City due to the truck ban.

 For his part, Quisumbing said proper coordination between the local government units and the private sectors is really needed.

“We make sure to sit down with all affected stakeholders. This to help determine better dissemination of information, traffic advisory system and raise some concerns,” said Quisumbing.

Two-way traffic

Until DPWH and MCWD find a solution to the repair of the bridge, as well as the major pipelines under the bridge, it will still be a two-way traffic. 

Glenn Antigua, TEAM chief, said unlike the first day of the bridge repair, they will be implementing a different traffic scheme in the Mandaue-Mactan Bridge.

He said the Mandaue-Mactan Bridge will be used by vehicles from Lapu-Lapu City going to Man-daue City from 4 a.m. to 2 p.m. and vehicles from Mandaue City going to Lapu-Lapu from 2 p.m. to 4 a.m.,

But according to Antigua, there’s a possibility that this will change, depending on the volume of traffic from both cities.

Meanwhile, DPWH did not push through with the removal of the deck slab of the bridge since it might affect the water supply of MCWD to its consumers in Mactan Island.

DPWH-7 assistant regional director Juby Cordon said they don’t want to repair the deck slab of the bridge knowing that this might affect the MCWD pipeline, which the DPWH considered as dilapidated.

MCWD was given by DPWH a week to come up with solutions so that it can already start with the repair of the bridge. As of yesterday, MCWD said it has been submitting options which the DPWH denied.

Meeting

Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III will convene the Mactan Cebu Bridge Management Board (MCBMB) next week in an effort to address the traffic congestion brought about by bridge repair.

Ethel Natera, provincial information officer, said the meeting is set for February 17.

Davide, who sits as chairman of the board, will preside over the meeting with representatives from the city governments of Lapu-Lapu, Mandaue and Cebu City, and the DPWH-7.

The contractor of the project and the MCWD will also be invited to the meeting, which will be the first for this year.

When asked why a meeting was not scheduled before the rehabilitation works started, Natera said they had to consider the availability of the board members.

The last board meeting was held last December 9, in which the DPWH-7 was asked to move the repair works of the Mandaue-Mactan Bridge after the Sinulog Festival and the International Eucharistic Congress in January.

The repair of the bridge was initially scheduled in August but was postponed due to the APEC meetings. The repair needs 330 calendar days to finish.

The project would include rehabilitation of the road on the bridge and the annex in Mandaue and repair of damaged deck slabs on the bridge, among others.

Meanwhile, representatives from the Capitol and the Mactan Electric Company (Meco) are set to discuss the firm’s proposal to set up solar panels at the old bridge.

Benjamin Joseph Yap, Capitol’s Investment and Promotions officer, said the solar panels would generate 120 kilowatts of electricity to power the streetlights at the bridge.

“We will be meeting with them (Meco representatives) within the month to get updates from them. If we can all agree, our office will be forwarding this to bridge board,” he said, adding that the province initially welcomed the proposal.  — /ATO (FREEMAN)