Plastic bollards are installed along the North Reclamation Area in Mandaue City for the safety of bikers. | photo from Mandaue City PIO
MANDAUE CITY, Philippines — Mandaue City will start the repair of the bollards that were damaged by super typhoon Odette after the May 9 elections.
Architect Marlo Ocleasa, head of the City Planning and Development Office (CPDO), said the city has allocated P2.5 million for the repair but cannot implement infrastructure projects at the moment because of the COMELEC ban.
Architect Charlene Cañete of CDPO said the P2.5 million budget includes the repair of bollards, signages, and the purchase of paint.
Earlier, Edwin Jumao-as, officer-in-charge of the Traffic Enforcement Agency of Mandaue (TEAM), said about 60 percent of the city’s bollards were damaged by the typhoon.
Ocleasa said they have also coordinated with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for the repair. He said the national roads are under the DPWH while the local and city roads are under the city government.
He said the city wanted to restore the bike lanes to help the mobility of Mandauehanons.
Cañete said the number of individuals in the city using bicycles increased by about 57 percent since the pandemic started. Cañete believed that one of the reasons was because most of the bike lanes in Mandaue are protected by bollards and delineators.
Mandaue City won the second most bicycle-friendly city in the Philippines award for 2021 by Mobility Awards, a non-government organization.
The Mobility Awards is organized by the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC), MNL Moves, The Climate Reality Project Philippines, 350.org Pilipinas, and Pinay Bike Commuter Community to inspire action, involvement, and coordination among local government units, workplaces, and establishments who want to improve conditions for urban mobility.
On Wednesday, March 30, the city formally received the awards. Aside from the silver award, they also bagged the bronze award for the bicycle-friendly workplace in the country.
Celine Tabinga, Mobility Awards National Coordinator, said the matrix that they are looking at was the infrastructure, such as bike lanes around the city, bike racks which is a bike parking, and how a candidate LGU monitors and implements the initiatives and projects.
She added that they are also looking at how inclusive the streets are based on how accessible they are for PWDs, pregnant women, and children.
Tabinga said she was happy that more LGUs are taking action to make their cities more bikeable and walkable. /rcg
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