Truck ban eyed in Cansaga area

(CDN FILE PHOTO)

CEBU CITY, Philippines – The Cebu Provincial Government is eyeing to implement a truck ban not only in Cansaga Bridge but also on roads directly connecting to it.

Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, in a recent press conference, announced that she is mulling to impose truck ban within the vicinity of the bridge if it meant decongesting traffic in northern Metro Cebu.

“We are eyeing the possibility of a truck ban in Cansaga Bridge and the area around it… as (part of) mitigating measures to decongest the North Coastal Highway,” Garcia said.

Last Friday, December 11, Garcia met with the mayors of Consolacion (Joannes Alegado), Liloan (Christina Frasco), and representatives from Mandaue City, and the Central Visayas offices of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH-7), Land Transportation Office (LTO-7), and the Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB-7) for a post-implementation assessment of Consolacion’s new traffic scheme which is the “no left turn, no crossing” policy.

When it took effect last December 8, motorists took to social media to criticize local officials’ decision and blame the new traffic rule as the cause of worsening traffic that day.

But despite these, Garcia and Alegado defended it, adding that as the days progress, traffic flow in Consolacion’s highway gradually improved.

During Friday’s meeting, government officials agreed to address concerns arising from other factors that they believed contributed to worsening traffic such as the volume of heavy vehicles plying the corridors of northern Metro Cebu.

As a result, they decided to impose a uniform and extended truck ban that will encompass Mandaue City and the towns of Consolacion and Liloan.

This new rule, which will take effect on December 18, 2020, will prohibit trucks with a gross vehicle weight of over 4,500, to pass on national roads from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. in the morning, and 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the evening.

READ MORE: Uniform, extended truck bans in three LGUs this Dec. 18

Garcia also said they will be holding another meeting this week to discuss the possible implementation of the truck ban within the vicinity of Cansaga Bridge.

She added that the provincial government, through local government units (LGUs) under it, will be serving notice to establishments along highways to ensure that there will be no trucks parked on the road.

“We will do an inventory of all existing establishments and the garages of their trailer vans, trucks along the highway. We will serve notices, saying the highway is not a parking garage,” explained Garcia.

The Capitol is also set to meet with mayors of local government units (LGUs) in south Metro Cebu.

Garcia said she is planning to sit down with local chief executives from Talisay City and Minglanilla to also discuss traffic woes there. /bmjo