SOCO SLAMS DPWH’S TRI-LEVEL PROJECT

An artist’s perspective of the proposed U.N. Avenue tri-level project presented by the DPWH-7. Phase 1 of the P946 million project in Mandaue City will start on Monday, July 23, 2018. /contributed

Would the P1.75-billion worth of road projects undertaken by the Department of Public Works and Highways in Central Visayas (DPWH-7) be enough to solve the P1.1 billion-daily economic losses of Metro Cebu due to traffic congestion?

This question was raised by business leader Glenn Anthony Soco during yesterday’s gathering of stakeholders who will be affected by the implementation of the P946-million U.N. Avenue Depressed (underpass) project in Mandaue City.

Soco, who sits as chairperson of the Infrastructure Development Committee of the Regional Development Council-7 (RDC-IDC), told Cebu Daily News in a phone interview that infrastructure projects such as underpasses and flyovers could only worsen the traffic situation if additional capacity routes will not be provided before their construction.

“While we look at more infrastructure projects, we have to do the right projects, and do them right,” said Soco.

Stage 1 starts Monday

Yesterday, DPWH-7 Director Ador Canlas announced that they will be proceeding with Stage 1 of the U.N. Avenue Depressed Project (also known as the U.N. Avenue tri-level flyover project) on Monday, July 23.

Stage 1 involved the clearing of obstructions in the area such as center islands, trees, and electric posts as well as mobilizing the heavy equipment needed.

However, Canlas said heavy traffic, gridlocks and chokepoints may not be expected at this stage since there will be no road closure or actual construction yet.

“We will start clearing the area from trees and posts. We have secured permit from the DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources) to start earthballing or cutting the trees this Monday,” explained Canlas.

“Although, we don’t expect any heavy traffic flow once we begin with Stage 1. Actual work of the depressed project will not start this year considering it’s the rainy season. Excavation during rains will be difficult,” he added.

Last December, DPWH-7 announced that they have awarded the contract for the tri-level project to B.M. Marketing. They added that the project will be implemented through a design-and-build scheme.

Project components

Components of the 952-meter project will not only consist of a four-lane underpass that will connect directly to the Marcelo Fernan Bridge but also a two-lane service road, and a flyover.

The underpass will span up to 600 meters with its entry points at the intersection of U.N. Avenue and Plaridel Street, and at the base of Marcelo Fernan Bridge.

Vehicles bound to and from Mactan Island via Marcelo Fernan Bridge are expected to traverse through the tunnel while those crossing U.N. Avenue from nearby streets will use the service roads and the flyover.

It is targeted to be completed by June 2020 or within 910 calendar days starting from the design phase in December 2017.

Other major projects

While doing so, the agency is also currently constructing the P638-million Mambaling Underpass Project in Cebu City which has been a subject of several complaints from motorists because of the traffic congestion that it had caused in N. Bacalso Avenue and nearby roads.

DPWH-7 is also tasked on rehabilitating the eight-lane Ouano Avenue in Mandaue City at a cost of P169-million, which is now on its second phase wherein the three lanes of its southbound portion are subject for concreting.

Implementation of infrastructural and road projects are accompanied with traffic schemes to serve both as guides for motorists and as means to ensure that traffic flow will not be hampered.

In the case of the U.N. Avenue Depressed Project, Glenn Antigua, chief of the Traffic Enforcement Agency of Mandaue (Team), told CDN in a separate interview that no alternate routes will be provided since DPWH-7 assured that there will be no road closure during the implementation of the project.

“Based on the planning, the service lanes will be constructed first before excavating the underpass. Thus, the traffic flow in the area will really not be hampered. And no road closure will take effect,” Antigua said.

But he said that heavy traffic in the surrounding areas such as Plaridel, M. Quezon, and M.C. Briones Streets, and Cansaga Bridge may be experienced once actual construction starts.

Stage 2, which is expected to start by 2019, involved the construction of the two-lane service road and the underpass’ walls. Excavation and construction for the depressed structure is part of Stage 3.

DPWH-7 planned to complete the project’s bridge or flyover at Stage 4.

Canlas said each stage can be completed within a span of around four to five months.

For his part, Soco slammed DPWH-7’s decision not to provide alternate routes, saying that these may result to the same traffic horror being experienced in N. Bacalso Avenue.

“We didn’t see anything new. There are still gridlocks in other intersections. They should have created more road capacities first before starting with any big-ticket projects that would affect traffic,” he added.

P1.1B daily loss

According to Soco, the estimate of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) that Cebu is losing P1.1 billion every day in its economy because of heavy traffic may increase by 5 percent during the tri-level project’s construction.

“Five percent of P1.1 billion is P55-million a day. If you multiply that to the 910 days they are supposed to construct the project, that would bring to a total of P500 billion,” he explained.

Soco added that the project is not financially feasible if the economic losses is greater than its actual cost.

“Those are things that they actually disregard in their feasibility studies. Even if the projects are backed with a study, they still fail to consider on how would it affect the economy and the people living in the area,” he said.

Strategies

Meanwhile, Randolph Carreon, traffic consultant of B.M. Marketing, presented several alternatives to address the inevitable traffic congestion, chokepoints, and gridlocks once implementation of the tri-level project will start.

One of these is to increase the frequency of trips to and from Mactan Island using other modes of transportation such as ferries.

Mandaue City Mayor Luigi Quisumbing, in an interview with ABS-CBN TV Patrol Central Visayas aired yesterday, expressed support for more infrastructure projects in the city in order to cope with the rise in the number of vehicles on the streets.

In turn, he also supported the idea of finding other modes of transportation such as a Mass Transit System and water taxis.

“Importante ang additional infrastructure to accommodate vehicles but it would be better if we finally have a Mass Transit System. We’re also hoping for the national government to help us have a mass transit in our city,” said Quisumbing.

“Well, we are in the talks of a private company for a water taxi terminal to and from Mactan with the CPA (Cebu Port Authority),” he added.