Cebu City SBLB mulls bike lanes from Busay to Tabunan

A cyclist passes through a cafe along the TransCentral Highway in the mountain barangay of Busay in Cebu City. CDN Digital photo | Brian J. Ochoa

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Sugbo Bike Lanes Board (SBLB) is mulling putting a bike lane from Barangay Tabunan to Barangay Busay.

This is in response to the request of Councilor James Cuenco, the chairperson of the City Council’s committee on transportation, to study the possibility of putting up a bike lane in the mountain barangays following the rise of vehicle’s popularity.

Lawyer Gerry Carillo, the chairman of the SBLB, said they have requested a program of works and estimates (PWE) from the Department of Engineering and Public Works so they can incorporate this into their requested budget for the supplemental budget this year if they push through with the bike lanes at the upland barangays.

The SBLB is also coordinating with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for the planned widening of the Transcentral Highway as any bike lane to be built there must coincide with the plans of the national agency.

“We will just install bollards. Probably around 1.5 meters (wide). So we asked the DEPW for a program works and estimates para maidentify nato pila ka bollards kailangan and ang reflectorized paint sad how much,” said Carillo.

For now, the SBLB is still studying how the bike lanes would be implemented since a total of 3 meters from both sides will be taken from the road and they are still checking if there is enough space remaining for the regular two lanes.

The study continues as the plans will still be approved by city government and a budget has to be allocated for it.

The budget, of course, will still pass through the City Council and the council is expected to peruse and provide inputs on the design.

For now, the bike lanes in the upland barangays is dependent on the said budget that the SBLB plans to lodge to the committee on budget and finance in one of the supplemental budgets this year.

To recall, the SBLB was only allotted P5 million upon establishment from the city government.

DPWH has allocated P50 million for the bike lanes including the bollards and the paints since the bike lanes traverse national roads as well.

When the budget is approved, the bike lanes in the upland barangays may push through.

Carillo assured the public that if and should there will be bike lanes in the upland barangay roads, this will be thoroughly studied and implemented in such a way that it will improve mobility there.   /rcg