Motorists from southern Cebu, who are bound for Cebu City, are advised to take alternate routes as the Cebu South Coastal Road’s viaduct was closed due to “emergency works,” the Cebu City Transportation Office announced in an advisory on Monday, Mar. 22 | Photo via Dominic Ylagan
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Traffic congestion greeted Cebuanos who were travelling to Cebu City from the south on Monday morning, March 22.
Emergency works at the Cebu South Coastal Road’s (CSCR) viaduct prompted authorities to close it from motorists for approximately four hours, the Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO) said.
As a result, bumper-to-bumper traffic was reported in several roads connecting to the CSCR which cuts across the South Road Properties (SRP).
“Heavy traffic and congestion was experienced in N. Bacalso Avenue, C. Padilla Street, the roads surrounding Carbon Public Market, and CSCR, especially the northbound lane,” Lyntoni Sable, CCTO head, said in Cebuano.
The viaduct was closed to vehicular traffic since Sunday evening, March 21, due to the ongoing construction of the third Cebu – Mactan Bridge.
It was supposed to be reopened at 5 a.m. on Monday, Sable said.
However, the CCTO official said they received information from the project’s proponents on the need to extend the closure until 8 a.m. to “repair a small portion of the viaduct.”
“They informed us that shortly before they wrapped up their construction activities on Monday morning that they hit portions of the viaduct and it needed to be wielded,” Sable said.
“They told us they need to perform emergency works and deployed all their men and machineries to fix it before they can reopen the viaduct. Otherwise, passing through the viaduct would be perilous,” she added.
The CSCR’s viaduct, which connects mainland Cebu City to SRP, was reopened at 9:15 a.m. Traffic in connecting roads eventually improved, Sable said.
CCTO said project proponents of the third Cebu-Mactan bridge will be issuing a public apology on Monday for the inconvenience they caused. / dcb
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