Traffic builds up at the Bulacao highway in Talisay City for southern Cebu-bound vehicles (above) caused by the closure of the Tabunok Flyover which is undergoing repairs. Vehicles along the highway crawled bumper-to-bumper that even motorcycles (left), which only need a little space to navigate through traffic, had no room to escape the line of slow-moving vehicles passing through the highway.Photos by Junjie Mendoza
Tabunok FLYOVER CLOSURE
At least 60 traffic enforcers will be deployed along the 1.5-km stretch of highway of the Cebu South Road in Barangay Bulacao in Talisay City to help ease expected heavy traffic in the area with the scheduled 14-day closure of the Tabunok Flyover starting on Friday.
Engineer Almond dela Peña, City of Talisay Traffic Operation Development Authority (CT-TODA) operations chief, said they already expected traffic to be heavy in the area especially with the long weekend ahead with no work on Monday (June 12, which is Independence Day) and the closure of the flyover.
Dela Peña said that the 60 traffic enforcers would work on two shifts to ensure the flow of traffic in the area that will be affected by the June 9 to June 22 closure of the Tabunok Flyover, which is undergoing rehabilitation work.
Dela Peña appealed to the public — the motorists and commuters — for more patience and understanding with the closure of the flyover and the expected traffic in the area.
“Ako hangyo nila nga mosabot sila total kaning project mahuman man ni og dali and once nga mahuman balik na sa normal ang dagan (I ask for their understanding because once the project is completed, the traffic in the area will be back to normal),” Dela Peña said.
Traffic moving
Dela Peña said that as early as 9 a.m., traffic started to build up in the boundary of Cebu City and Talisay City particularly in Barangay Bulacao going to the foot of the Tabunok Flyover.
“We experienced congestion, but it was still moving,” he said in Cebuano.
He also noted that there were still buses using the Cebu South Road, turning left to San Isidro Road going to the South Road Properties (SRP).
He said that traffic would be heavy on weekdays at the SRP because the DPWH would also start working on the road-widening projects in the SRP on the Talisay side.
He said he had already asked the market administrator not to allow sidewalk vendors under the bridge for now because it would add to the traffic in the area.
Alternative route
Some commuters like Eunice Claro, a human resource officer of a restaurant in Cebu City, had taken an alternative route in getting to work from Talisay City to Cebu City.
Charo said she took a jeepney ride from Gaisano Tabunok to Cebu City avoiding passing through the Cebu South Road in Barangay Bulacao where the closed flyover is situated.
“I did not pass along the highway (Bulacao, Talisay City side of the Cebu South Road) and instead I used the Gaisano Tabunok route where I took a jeepney going to Cebu City,” she said in Cebuano.
But Karen Rubio, project management associate of a business process outsourcing company in Cebu City, who was heading home from work to
Talisay City, said it took a longer time for her to reach home as the bus she rode on took the Cebu South Road route.
She said that traffic was not a gridlock, but it was slow moving.
Traffic will continue to be experienced in the area while the Tabunok Flyover is closed.
Engineer Noel Alvarez of DPWH said that they would work for 14 days on retrofitting the expansion joints of the bridge.