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