Road sharing advocates kick off dialogs before Sept. 28
Organizers of the Sept. 28 road sharing experiment in Cebu City will hold a series of public consultations and meetings to promote the scheme starting next week.
In a coordination meeting with the Cebu City government yesterday, the proponents agreed that a series of dialogues be held on the road sharing plan so the public is prepared for its implementation on the last Sunday of the month.
“Basically, our first job is to inform the public including motorists, pedestrians, bikers, vendors, business owners among others,” said Marc Canton, head convenor of the Movement for a Livable Cebu (MLC).
MLC is one of several groups supporting the road sharing scheme spearheaded by environment lawyer Antonio Oposa Jr.
Instead of closing off a major road, like what was done in Osmeña Boulevard on June 12, 2011 for the first “Road Revolution”, traffic will flow with vehicles sharing half of the lane with pedestrians and bikers.
The day-long road experiment will start at the Fuente Osmeña rotunda to Gen. Maxilom (Mango) Ave. and Gorordo Ave. to Escario St. and back to the rotunda.
Minimized
It will cover barangays Kamputhaw, Capitol Site, Sta. Cruz, Cogon Ramos and Zapatera.
Citom executive director Rafael Yap, who is coordinating with MLC, attended the meeting with Tess Chan, president of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
For its part, Cebu City will implement traffic rules along the route and enforce strict loading and unloading areas for passengers and vehicles.
Pedestrian-friendly roads are part of the Green Loop concept of students and mentors of the University of San Carlos College of Architecture and Fine Arts (USC-Cafa) under Dean Joseph Michael Espina.
The plan for a “liveable” metropolis is being developed with Cebu experts in urban planning, landscape architecture, environmental science, environmental law and community organizing.
“We’ll be coordinating with all media, inform establishments, schools, churches and use the social media, hand out flyers to people. We will also have speaking engagements with the affected barangays.
We want to give the public as much info as possible so there will be no surprises, or at least it’s minimized,” Canton said.
Mindset
After the first run on Sept. 28 they will assess public response and make adjustments.
Canton said there will be no infrastructure changes on the first Sunday. “Our main objective is to change the mindset of people,” Canton said.
Another meeting is set on Sept. 18 between organizers and city officials.
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