Citom wants traffic pact with Mandaue’s TEAM

To avoid conflicts and inconvenience on the riding public, the Cebu City Traffic Operations

Management (Citom) said it wants closer coordination with their counterparts in Mandaue City.
In a resolution, the Citom board said they want a joint traffic cooperation agreement with the

Traffic Enforcement Agency of Mandaue (TEAM) on traffic matters involving both cities.
The board also authorized Citom executive director Rafael Yap to initiate discussions with

their counterparts in Mandaue regarding the agreement.
“This is for us to avoid the same problems before like in S. Osmeña rerouting. This is also

because of the several ongoing projects in both cities because what happens in Mandaue will

affect Cebu City,” Yap said.
Last March, Citom implemented a one-way northbound traffic in a portion of S. Osmeña road near

the Mandaue border to pave the way for concreting works in the national road.
This caused severe traffic congestion in the Mandaue side where vehicles going to Cebu City can

only pass through Logarta St.
No agreement was reached by both cities before the rerouting scheme was enforced.
Both Citom and Team had to conduct meetings to adjust the scheme amid mounting complaints from

the public.
Yap also said the board’s decision for proper coordination is also an offshoot of a bill passed

by Rep. Luigi Quisumbing of Cebu’s 6th district to establish a Metro Cebu Traffic Management

Authority.
“At least we already have baby steps to establish linkages,” Yap added.
Last week, the Mandaue City Council approved a 60-day dry run of an experimental one-way

traffic scheme starting in the first week of August.
The new scheme will involve two roads at the center of the city being made into one-way

streets.
There will also be some changes in the flow of traffic in other roads to manage bottlenecks in

those areas./With a report from Correspondent Norman V. Mendoza