Motorists, commuters caught off guard with reroute scheme

Yesterday’s start of the two-month re-routing scheme along S. Osmeña Road caught passengers and motorists by surprise.

“Wa ko nakahibaw ani. Mas tuyok pa man ni karon. Pero sige lang. Wala man tay mabuhat ani (I didn’t know about this. The new route is farther. But it’s okay, we can’t do anything about it),” 43-year-old jeepney driver Reynando Bontulan said.

He drives a 12G route passenger jeepney that services the route from barangay Labangon going to SM City Cebu and back. Motorists were seen asking traffic enforcers for directions.

The northbound lane of S. Osmeña road, from corner V. Sotto St. to corner Gen. Maxilom Extension, was closed off starting yesterday to give way to Phase 3 of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH-7) road concreting project.

Contractor WT Construction Inc. started scraping off the asphalt in a closed portion of the road.

Banned

The Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) noted a “very manageable” traffic volume in the area.

“It only got heavy during the lifting of the truck ban in the morning,” Citom operations chief Joy Tumulak said.

Trucks are allowed to pass through S. Osmeña Road but are banned in the interior roads near S. Osmeña from 6 to 8 a.m. and 4 to 7 p.m.

When the ban was lifted yesterday morning, a lot of trucks were going to and from the interior roads, causing traffic. Citom fielded 25 traffic personnel in the area.

Only three traffic enforcers were previously positioned in the intersections in the closed portion.

Adjust

But since traffic was re-routed to interior intersections, more personnel were detailed there.

“Since it’s just the start, a lot of people had difficulty with the new routes. Most of them don’t read the traffic signs we’ve put up. We’re requesting motorists to read them to avoid getting lost,” Citom sector supervisor Renato Generoso said.

He said it usually takes four to five days for motorists to adjust to the re-routing.

By then, they can pull out some of their personnel already.

A bottleneck was also seen along Arellano Boulevard due to the presence of informal settlers and parked vehicles there.

Road shoulder

A wake occupied almost half of the width of the road with tents and Citom personnel asked the people to move back a little.

The DPWH Cebu City Engineering District nearly completed a concreting project in Arellano Boulevard.

“It has been suspended due to the informal settlers. We can’t concrete the road shoulder anymore,” said Cebu City District Engr. Fernando Cruz.

The DPWH Cebu City District Office is located along V. Sotto St. near Arellano Boulevard.

Citom is also clearing Arellano Boulevard of trucks and other vehicles parked along the road.

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Portion of S. Osmeña Road closed to traffic

S. Osmeña Road closed on Aug. 12

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