No truck ban in north, roads leading to Lapu

STARTING today, trucks may pass through some roads in Mandaue City on a daily basis.

This after the Traffic Enforcement Agency of Mandaue (TEAM) announced that they will start the 60-day dry run of the no-truck ban on a cargo transport corridor in the city.

TEAM chief Glenn Antigua said the corridor will be for roads going to the north via the Cansaga Bridge and for roads going to Lapu-Lapu City via the Marcelo B. Fernan Bridge.

The roads where the no-truck ban will be enforced are along Ouano Ave., A. Soriano St., D.M. Cortes St. and U.N. Avenue.

“The Mandaue City Council granted our request to implement the dry run. We just received a copy of the resolution last week. We will start implementing it this week, on Wednesday,” Antigua told reporters.

He said stakeholders were informed about the council’s approval and the scheduled implementation of the dry run during a meeting with Metro Cebu officials last week.

Copies of the approval were also given to the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) and the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) for their dissemination to their members.

“Hopefully, we can expect improvement in our traffic flow. Before, when there’s a truck ban, the trucks would all go out at the same time after the ban is lifted, like at 8 p.m. It would cause heavy traffic on the roads,” Antigua said.

He said there have been cases of trucks conking out and breaking down in the bridges from mainland Cebu to Mactan Island.

Antigua said they found out that some trucks carry so much cargo in order to beat the truck ban schedules.

Prior to today’s implementation, Mandaue City had been implementing a truck ban in all of its roads from 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. and from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Antigua first proposed for the cargo transport corridor last March after a meeting with Metro Cebu officials.

He said there are no roads in the city where the truck ban doesn’t apply. Other cities like Cebu, Talisay and Lapu-Lapu all have some roads that are not covered by their respective truck ban schedules, Antigua said.

“The businesses are also happy because they won’t have to pay for overtime for their drivers who have to wait after 8 p.m. to deliver some of their cargo,” Antigua said.

He said TEAM will continue apprehending trucks plying through the rest of the roads outside of the identified cargo transport corridor within the truck ban schedule in the city./Reporter Jose Santino Bunachita