City Council asks DPWH-7 to restore budget to widen N. Bacalso Ave.

Construction workers man heavy equipment in the ongoing construction of the underpass in Barangay Mambaling, Cebu City.

TO EASE traffic congestion in the southern corridor of Cebu City, the City Council yesterday passed a resolution requesting the Department of Public Works and Highways in Central Visayas (DPWH-7) to restore the budget needed to widen portions of N. Bacalso Ave. where the P638-million underpass project is being constructed.

Its author, Councilor Jocelyn Pesquera, initially proposed a resolution urging Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña to issue a cease-and-desist order (CDO) to stop the construction since it resulted to heavier traffic flow in Cebu City’s southern Barangays (villages) of Mambaling, Basak, Basak-Pardo, Pardo, Bulacao, and Punta Princesa.

But after several discussions during yesterday’s regular session, Pesquera decided to amend her proposal and addressed it to DPWH-7 instead. It was approved without any objections.

According to Pesquera’s resolution, halting the construction of the underpass project through the issuance of a CDO, will give way for the road widening of N. Bacalso Ave. which is seen to decongest traffic in the area.

“But (the amendment) is a lot better. My point is just to add pressure to DPWH and the mayor to quickly act on the road widening,” Pesquera said.
She also belied the claim of DPWH-7 that it already had a budget intended for widening the two lanes of N. Bacalso, particularly those adjacent to the 700-meter underpass tunnel, to six lanes.

“Kung moingon sila naay budget, well and good. Pero akong pangutana, nganong ilang gi-cancel ang contract? (If they say there’s a budget, well and good. But my question is, why did they cancel the contract?)” said Pesquera.

Reached for comments, Roy dela Cruz, DPWH-7 project engineer of the underpass project, dismissed Pesquera’s doubts and assured there is a budget for the road widening.

“But I cannot give further details since I am not authorized to release such. As we’ve said before, we had difficulty on the land acquisition that’s why the road widening was not pushed through,” Dela Cruz told Cebu Daily News in a phone interview yesterday.

During an executive session last April 3, officials from DPWH-7, including Dela Cruz, were grilled by Pesquera after the latter expressed her frustrations over the inconvenience motorists in the south had to endure due to the ongoing construction of the underpass project.

On that same day, Pesquera also announced that she would sue DPWH-7 and run after them if the traffic problems in the south would not be solved.