I am happy with the latest development on the 3rd Cebu-Mactan bridge. It will be undertaken under a private-public partnership with a corporation headed by businessman Manny Pangilinan.
The 3rd bridge will connect to Cebu City, specifically the South Road Properties, instead of Mandaue City where the first two Mactan bridges are.
The third bridge will decongest traffic at the Mactan-Mandaue areas. People from southern Cebu will no longer have to pass through downtown Cebu City to go to Mactan Island especially in going to the international airport.
What’s new, however, is that users will have to pay a toll fee to cross the third bridge. I am not aware if the proposed toll will get the support of the Cebuanos especially the local government units, but the answer is simple.
If one does not want to pay toll for the third bridge, then he can very well use the two other bridges for free.
Definitely, the third bridge which will connect Cebu City to Cordova is a very welcome development for us Cebuanos.
Let us therefore support this development.
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Now that the BRT is finally approved by the national government and is in the process of implementation, I am worried that our narrow streets may not allow the BRT to work.
Though I welcome the BRT, I see that because of our narrow streets, something must be given up. Possibly, private and public vehicles’ use of the roads should then be regulated.
I hope the BRT committee will seriously consider the proposal from the Movement for a Livable Cebu to change the BRT route so it will go through the new Imus road, then to M.J. Cuenco Ave. then to Mandaue City.
This would be more logical and would meet the reason for the mass transit which is to serve areas that are often used by the commuters.
The MLC-proposed route will serve the interests of the students and people wanting to go to Mandaue city. It would also decongest the jeepneys in the Mandaue-Cebu City route.
The proposal is not tainted with partisan politics, only the interest to serve the people needing the mass transit most.
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As I went around the city, I observed that there are more cars in our streets, and our roads are not getting any wider.
The city officials and the public works department will have to be creative in addressing this serious concern. It is not going to be easy because many establishments that will be affected by a road widening will go to court but so far, the courts have been very positive in siding with development.
It is just like the informal settlers along Mahiga Creek. They sought the intervention of the court, assisted by lawyers and a politician whose only interest is basically for politics. But so far, the court has also been vigilant in siding with the development and in stopping flooding in the city.
Even those who are living in areas that were razed by fires are affected, as the city is implementing a reblocking in their areas to have wider roads to accommodate vehicles responding to emergencies.
But some of them apparently do not understand the intention of the city, which is to take care of their safety.
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