Traffic in Mambaling underpass: Wait until Monday, June 17

 Traffic is loose in the first day of the Mambaling underpass because it is a weekend, according to Cebu City Transportation Office Operations Head Francisco Ouano. | Gerard Vincent Francisco

CEBU CITY, Philippines. — On the first day of the opening of the Mambaling Underpass on June 15, Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO) Operations Head Francisco Ouano noticed the easing of traffic along the Natalio Bacalso highway.

Ouano, however, said that the true test of the underpass whether it really could ease traffic in that part of the city would be on Monday, June 17.

He said that on that day, students would be going to their classes and employees would be going to work. 

He said he would be looking forward to the traffic results on that day with the Mambaling underpass opened.

Read more: IN PHOTOS: Mambaling underpass now open for public use

But Ouano said he would be expecting an easing of the traffic in the area.

He said that based on their initial observation, traffic would ease a bit because the motorists would have more routes to choose from in going to the south and back.

“Mabahin naman gud ang mga sakyanan. Daghan na silag choices,” Ouano added.

(The number of motorist will be divided with the underpass providing two more lanes for the south and back. Motorists will more choices.)

The underpass has two lanes, one going to Cebu City from the southern areas such as Talisay City, and the other lane for those from the south going into the city.

Public utility vehicles (PUV), however, are encouraged to only use the underpass when their vehicles are full of passengers because they are not allowed to stop or pick up passengers in the area of the underpass.

Read more: No buses and minibuses for Mambaling underpass; KMK and Mybus allowed

Aside from that, the CCTO is also implementing a truck ban where trucks are disallowed to pass the underpass during peak hours.

Meanwhile, passengers and drivers are also hoping that the opening of the underpass will ease traffic in the area.

Romeo Inso, 46, a taxi driver, said he was expecting an easier travel in the Mambaling area where the underpass is located.

Inso, however, said that he was expecting traffic to be heavy in areas where there are schools.

He cited the areas near and around schools like Cebu Institute of Technology-University (CIT-U) and the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Basak Campus where traffic would be experienced.

Jesse Bachiller, 54, a motorcycle-for-hire driver or habal-habal driver, said that he believed that heavy traffic would still be experienced in the area.

Bachiller said that he had observed that the shorter time for the traffic lights to change from green to red might cause the traffic in the area especially from vehicles coming from the north.

However, he said that this was only his observation and that it was too early to see the effects of the traffic in the area with the underpass already opened.

“Karon sitwasyona, di pa gyud ta kaingon na mao na siya,” said Bachiller.

(Today, we can’t say that that is it.)

For Rosebell Daculan, a caregiver, said that she hoped that there would be a proper management that could help in the improvement of the underpass.

“Maytag naa silay mga transport experts nga muadvise pud nila,” said Daculan.

(I hope that they have transport experts that can advise them, too.)

She also said this could be an advantage for the students, whose classes start on August because they would have extra time to assess the traffic in  the area. /dbs