LONG WAIT. Motorists have to deal with heavy traffic along Ouano Avenue at the Mandaue City Reclamation Area due to rerouting for a road concreting project along. S. Osmena road, Cebu City. Work is supposed to be completed on March 31. (CDN PHOTO/ TONEE DESPOJO)
Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes hopes that Cebu City Hall will approve his proposal to allow one-way traffic along M. Logarta Street to open up space for southbound vehicles to pass.
If implemented, M. Logarta Street (SM Hypermart) would be used for traffic heading to Cebu City while S. Osmena Road, part of which is closed for rehabilitation, will be used for traffic heading for Mandaue.
As proposed, vehicles from Cebu City headed north to Mandaue City will be diverted to two seaside lanes of S. Osmeña Road beside the Cebu Ports Authority (CPA) office.
Cortes was discussing the plan with Cebu City Vice Mayor Edgar Labella at Cebu City Hall as of 9 p.m. yesterday.
He said he would rather meet with Labella to discuss the concerns of their cities instead of Cebu CIty Mayor Michael Rama.
“Traffic does not acknowledge political boundaries. It is affecting Metro Cebu. Wala man ko makig-away, I am willing nga magpa-ubos (I’m not fighting anyone, I am willing to humble myself),” Cortes told reporters last Tuesday.
Access
Traffic congestion was severe at the Mandaue City side of the North Reclamation Area (NRA) last week after the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) closed one lane of S. Osmeña Road before the Mahiga Creek and near Block 27.
Only vehicles from Cebu city heading north to Mandaue can use the road for now.
Edwin Ermac, head of the Traffic Enforcement Agency of Mandaue (Team), earlier proposed to open the sea-side lane of S. Osmeña Road to two-way traffic to allow access for vehicles from Ouano Avenue to the nearby Baclig Street in the Cebu International Port (CIP) compound.
He said trucks from Ouano Avenue will pass through the sea-side lane of S. Osmeña Road on reaching the banks of the Mahiga Creek in Mandaue City’s side on their way to Baclig Street.
Mandaue City’s new re-routing scheme
From Citom official Facebook account.
But Joy Tumulak, Citom’s operations head, said allowing a counterflow of vehicles along S. Osmeña Road could be risky.
In a press conference yesterday, Cortes told reporters that the new traffic proposal is prepared by Architect Florentino Nimor, Mandaue’s City Planning and Development Officer.
Nimor’s proposal shows the conversion of M. Logarta Street located in front of the North Bus Terminal to a one-way route while road improvement works are ongoing along S. Osmeña Road.
M. Logarta’s four-lane road should only be used for Mandaue City vehicles that are headed for Cebu City.
All Cebu City vehicles headed for Mandaue City should be directed towards S. Osmeña Road on its way to Ouano Avenue.
Vehicles from the Plaza Independencia area will travel along S. Osmeña Road on their way to Mandaue City.
Vehicles coming from Juan Luna Street in barangay Mabolo will be made to make a left turn to A. Soriano Street located in front of APM Mall then make a right turn to Kaohsiung Street located in front of SM North Wing.
They will then make a left turn to join the S. Osmeña traffic in front of the Cebu Daily News building on their way to Ouano Avenue.
“It is so unfortunate nga grabe ang traffic (that the traffic is terrible). Ang project mismo naa sa Cebu City pero ang naapektuhan ug grabe ron ang Mandaue (The project is in Cebu City but it has severely affected Mandaue),” Cortes said during his press conference.
If traffic congestion is not addressed, it will affect the business climate of the two cities, the mayor said.
“Hopefully, we can meet halfway, unsa’y matagaan ug (what could be given a) solution. This is the time for us to work, no cities shall prevail. All I wanted is to play to win,” Cortes said.