A surveyor of WT Construction readies his equipment along Sergio Osmeña Road for the 20 meter road widening project. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)
CEBU City Mayor Michael Rama said he will grant an exemption of his “no road works at daytime” policy to the concreting of a portion of Sergio Osmeña road at the North Reclamation Area (NRA).
But he wanted the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to submit their request for exemption in writing. He also wants the concreting finished in November this year, ahead of the 2015 Sinulog.
“I asked them (DPWH) that all should be placed in writing so we can be in agreement,” he told reporters during his noontime press conference yesterday.
Rama met with DPWH city engineering district chief Fernando Cruz, City Engineer Jose Marie Poblete and Rafael Yap, Cebu City Integrated Traffic Operations Management (Citom) chief, to discuss the road concreting project last Monday.
Re-routing scheme
DPWH was supposed to proceed with the concreting of a portion of S. Osmeña Road from the Mahiga Creek bridge to the corner of Palma Street beside the Cebu Technological University (CTU) in January.
The project is scheduled for completion in April.
Rama also told DPWH engineers during their meeting that he wanted the road concreting project implemented as soon as Citom submits a rerouting scheme for vehicles using S. Osmeña Road.
He said vehicles will have to be rerouted away from the project to make sure there won’t be any disruptions.
Rama also agreed to the use of a portion of the city owned block 27 located at the back of the Citom impounding area at the NRA as depository area for heavy equipment for the road concreting work.
“It will be difficult for us (to complete it before Sinulog). We’ll need to close portions of the road and divert traffic,” Cruz said.
With Rama’s request, Cruz said they might need to work day and night to complete the project.
“There are some instances where we have to sacrifice a little more. We have to work on sections day and night to give in to the request of the mayor,” Cruz said. /With reports from Correspondent Jose Santino S. Bunachita