Do Ironman first before SRP tunnel roadwork

Hundreds of spectators watch from the roadside as Ironman 70.3 athletes, enter and exit from the SRP tunnel in August 2013. (CDN FILE PHOTO)

The Cebu city government doesn’t want a contractor to start a  road concreting project on the approaches of the Cebu South Road tunnel until after the Cobra  Ironman  70.3 in August.

With the international triathlon less than four months away, closing the tunnel for 150 days of roadwork, even  just a partial closure, would place the big event at risk.

Rafael Yap, Cebu City Traffic Operations and Management (Citom) executive director, confirmed in a text message that they want the civil works to be undertaken after Ironman 70.3.

The tunnel and the South Road Properties (SRP) coastal road have been  part of  the bike race route in the past three years that the triathlon has been held in cities of Lapu-Lapu, Mandaue and Cebu.

Princess Galura of Sunrise Events Inc. , organizer of the Ironman 70.3, was not aware of plans to partly close the tunnel for roadwork when Cebu Daily News sought her comment last night.

“We have not been told officially by the Province so I will have to check if that is final. In any case, we will make it known to them and ask their thoughts as to what can be done,” she said in a text message.

In past Ironman 70.3 races, local and foreign    athletes praised Cebu for being an ideal location but worried about the potholes on S. Osmeña Road which pose safety issues.

By August, the road will be completey paved but  there’s still an  uneven asphalt surface in both approaches of the tunnel.

The P16 milllion road project awarded to Virlo Construction by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)   is aimed at correcting this problem, said Cebu City Engineering District head Nicomedes Leonor.

He said they have no choice but to suspend the project, however.

“There’s an incoming Ironman event so they wanted the works to be done after the event. We just asked them to send us a formal letter so we’ll also have documentation,” he said.

DPWH  representatives attended yesterday’s  Citom board meeting  where traffic officials asked to suspend the road project.

Under the contract, Virlo will pave with concrete the 580-meter approaches to both ends of the tunnel – 290 meters on the SRP viaduct and 280 meters from the S. Osmena Road side of the tunnel.

Leonor said they will include the 10-meter gap between the start of the approach and the end of the concrete S. Osmena Road.

During the Citom board meeting, Leonor said DPWH  proposed that they work on half of the four-lane tunnel approaches first. The other two lanes will remain open for one-way traffic.

If this scheme is approved, Leonor said they can shorten work to 75 calendar days from the programmed 150 days.

Leonor said the road should be paved with concrete, instead of just an asphalt overlay.

“Even if we asphalt it again, it will be the same procedure. We still have to scrape off the existing one and it will still take time. I made them choose between asphalt, which has a life span of only three to five years, or concrete which can last longer,” Leonor said.

For his part, Yap said Citom is  studying DPWH’s proposed scheme.

The road concreting project was scheduled to start Wednesday night, but Cebu City Mayor Michael L. Rama stopped it, worried about the traffic it woud surely cause and asked: “Why fix it when it’s not broken.”

Rama said he would only allow the national road project to proceed if it can be completed  in a month.

He asserted his authority as mayor , saying he was responsible for maintaining order  in the streets.