CEBU SOUTHBOUND TRAFFIC TO WORSEN

RIGHT HERE. Jonathan Tumulak, head of the Cebu Provincial Traffic Management office, shows the damaged rubberized expansion joints that will be replaced with metal finger joints during the repair period that will start on April 27. CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO

MANANGA BRIDGE 3 REHAB

Going home to Naga City, 21.7 kilometers south of Cebu City, has always been an ordeal for college student Zena Magto.

Magto, 20, who studies in a university in downtown Cebu City, usually takes the Cebu South Coastal Road (CSCR) to escape the traffic in N. Bacalso Avenue caused by the underpass project in Barangay Mambaling.

Soon, even passing through the CSCR will not save southbound travelers like Magto from traffic gridlocks.

This is after the Department of Public Works and Highways’ (DPWH) Second Engineering District of Cebu announced yesterday its plan to close the three lanes heading to Cebu City from the

Mananga Bridge 3 at the CSCR for at least a month starting at 9 p.m. on April 27.

The road closure has to be done to give way to the P50-million preventive maintenance project on the 390-meter bridge in CSCR, which is under the jurisdiction of Talisay City, said DPWH-Cebu Second District chief Leslie Anthony Molina.

The project will include scarifying asphalt overlay and re-asphalting of the bridge deck and replacing the four rubber expansion joints of the bridge with metal finger joints.

In 2017, Mananga Bridge 3 was also repaired, with the replacement of two of the expansion joints on the south-bound portion of the bridge.

Molina said they now have to replace all the four expansion joints of the city-bound portion and the remaining two joints of the southbound side.

“The contractor presented a 70-day project plan. Pero taas ra kaayo ang 70 days (70 days is too long). I want the city-bound portion of the bridge to be passable by May so that we can start with the repair of the other lane in time for the classes to start in June,” said Molina.

Molina said the contractor of the citybound portion of the bridge will be working round the clock to finish the project as soon as they can.

Mananga Bridge 3 has six lanes divided in two by a center island, three lanes are dedicated for city-bound vehicles and another three for south-bound traffic.

The southbound and citybound portions of the bridge have separate bridge IDs hence, different contractors will be working on the maintenance for the two portions, said Molina.

Engr. Leslie Anthony Molina, DPWH Cebu 2nd Engineering District chief, in a briefing on April 17, 2018, shows the sketch of the traffic plan when the repair of the Mananga Bridge 3 begins on April 27.

Schedules

In the DPWH project plan, all of the three lanes going to the city will be closed while the other three lanes will be shared by citybound and south-bound vehicles.

Molina said that fully closing the three lanes in the citybound part of the bridge will expedite the repair process to make it passable again.

To ensure that there will be still traffic flow in the area, albeit slow, two out of the three lanes in the southbound portion of the bridge will be allocated for citybound vehicles from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., since most motorists from the south will be heading to their work in the city.

In the afternoon, only one lane will be given for the citybound vehicles from 4 p.m. until 8 p.m. to give way to the expected influx of motorists who will head to their homes in the south.

Ready to assist

The Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO) assured they would come up with plans to anticipate the impending heavy traffic in the South Road Properties (SRP) once the repair project starts.

CCTO chief Francisco Ouano told Cebu Daily News in a phone interview that they only received an informal notice about the rehabilitation of the Mananga Bridge yesterday afternoon.

“We’re waiting for any notice from the DPWH if they needed our contribution on coming up with measures to manage traffic particularly in the SRP.

And we’re always willing to sit down with them,” said Ouano.

However, he revealed that with the closure of the Mananga Bridge in CSCR, their biggest concern is finding alternative roads for buses heading for the Cebu South Bus Terminal (CSBT).

“Our buses are plying the CSCR and through SRP because of the ongoing construction of the underpass project in N. Bacalso. With this, we’re anticipating heavy traffic,” Ouano said.

Ouano also urged motorists to be guided by the scheduled closure.

“We have to make the necessary adjustments once the repairs will start so that we won’t be late in work,” he said.

Traffic bulletin board

With the expected traffic build up, Julieto Flores, chairman of the Cebu Provincial Bus and Minibus Operators Cooperative (CPBMOC), recommended that a traffic bulletin board should be installed meters away from the Rabaya Road in CSCR.

“The public should be informed nga naay road repair project para naa silay option nga mogawas sa SRP ug mobalik sa main highway through Rabaya or mopadayon sila sa SRP,” said Flores.
(The public should be informed of the repair project so that they will have the option to either continue or get out of SRP and go back to the main highway through Rabaya.)

Flores said it would be good if motorists who are only heading to Minglanilla to take the main highway route to lessen the volume of vehicles in the CSCR. Minglanilla, 17 km from Cebu City, is the town next to Talisay City.

During late evenings, Molina also recommended to the contractor handling the southbound repair to start scarifying their lanes so they can immediately proceed to the re-asphalting and joint replacement of the lanes when the maintenance project in the citybound lanes will be finished.
Jonathan Tumulak, the Cebu Provincial Traffic Management Office focal person, also said they would place a tow truck on standby near the bridge in order to quickly respond if a vehicle would break down.

He said they would also look for more diversion roads in order to minimize the effect of the road closure.
/with a report from Reporter Morexette Marie B. Erram