Liloan town Mayor Christina Garcia Frasco said she is willing to have the bike route pass through her town if Sunrise Events Inc. (SEI), the organizers of the Regent Aguila Ironman 70.3 Asia Pacific Championships, will prepare an alternate route for motorists to use.
In a statement posted on her Facebook account, Frasco said she was concerned with the organizers’ proposal for total closure of the National Highway in the town to accommodate the 90-kilometer bike route of the international triathlon event on August 5.
“These major high capacity roads provide the only direct access to and from Liloan and the north of Cebu. If closed for eight hours, over 100,000 people in Liloan will not have mobility. Combined with Consolacion, Compostela, Danao, and Carmen, plus commuters, the Ironman road closures will affect half a million people,” Frasco said in her statement.
“I said that if they close our main roads for that long, they should be able to provide an alternative route for people to pass. They said they want entire road closure as their priority is the safety of their athletes. My priority is the welfare of our people.”
Frasco explained she fully supports the Ironman and other sporting events but she is also worried about the welfare of her constituents.
“Liloan has always supported these types of events as we had for many years during Xterra. However, since the proposal is total road closure, I expressed my concerns ranging from heavy traffic, possible emergencies, massive inconvenience to residents and commuters, pedestrian risk, to loss of income from local vendors and establishments. As we would really like to help in the success of Ironman in Cebu without compromising the welfare of our constituents, I am hopeful that Sunrise and the Provincial Government would be able to propose an alternative to their present proposition as it practically leaves the people of Liloan and the North at a complete standstill for 8 hours with zero access,” Frasco said.
Meanwhile, SEI general manager Princess Galura said that they don’t have an alternative route for the motorists but they are still hopeful that Frasco will consider their request.
For the past six years, the Ironman event was held in Cebu, the Cebu South Coastal Road was used as part of the bike course of the swim-bike-run race.
But Cebu City Mayor Tommy Osmeña denied last week SEI’s application to use the road this year due to traffic congestion concerns. The mayor explained that the CSCR is important for motorists since there is an ongoing construction of an underpass along Natalio Bacalso Avenue in Mambaling.
Read her statement here: