Motorists passing through Ouano Ave. urged: Leave for work early

The ongoing road rehabilitation work along Ouano Avenue at the Mandaue Reclamation Area is seen in this aerial drone shot of the area.
CDN DRONE PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO

MOTORISTS and commuters, who have to pass along Ouano Avenue at the Mandaue Reclamation Area, are encouraged to leave early for their work or appointments or they will likely arrive late because of expected traffic in the area.

Regional Director Ador Canlas of the Department of Public Works and Highways in Central Visayas (DPWH-7) gave this advice yesterday (Sunday) as he also called for understanding and patience among the motorists and commuters for the traffic caused by the ongoing road concreting in Ouano Avenue.

Canlas said that they were trying to speed up the job by working more than eight hours a day.

“We are working beyond the 8-hour period. We are trying to take advantage to the good weather. We just need more patience from the public as we try to complete this project much earlier than what we expect,” he said in a phone interview.

After the Feb. 27 traffic rerouting dry run for the Ouano Avenue road concreting project, this plan was implemented on March 1 and work on the project also started on that day.

As of today, the contractors are starting to scrape off the asphalt of the existing 14-centimeter asphalt on a 1.9-kilometer stretch, to replace it with the new 35-centimeter-thick concrete.

“We started already scarifying the existing asphalt pavement. Then we would do the base. Hopefully, we could do it and finish it earlier than as committed,” Canlas said.

The contractor WT Construction Inc. are targeting to finish the the P169.9 million Ouano Ave. Rehabilitation Project within a span of 360 days.

Glenn Antigua, Traffic Enforcement Agency of Mandaue (TEAM) head, said that the traffic in the area was still manageable, considering the alternative route scheme they had implemented and the closure of the lanes since the dry run last Feb 27.

“Okay ra wala tay problema sa traffic kay dako man sab atong diversion route (We do not have problems with the traffic because we have diversion routes),” Antigua said the diversion route are for the big trucks.

With the closure of three of the four lanes of the Ouano Avenue, some vehicles heading north have to pass through the alternative routes in F. Zuellig Avenue and M. Logarta Avenue, which have helped in minimizing the traffic congestion in the construction area along the avenue.