New Fuente rotunda traffic scheme starts

Parallel parking is now used in one of Fuente rotunda’s seven lanes. Another lane is used for drop offs. (CDN PHOTO/ JUNJIE MENDOZA)

Experiments in easing traffic flow in Cebu City continue.

Starting yesterday, cars can park,  or load and unload passengers in the  outermost lane  around Fuente Osmeña.

The new scheme of  parallel parking  for vehicles aims to ensure smooth flow around the city’s central landmark
It replaces the  diagonal parking or  “nose in nose out” carousel layout which  traffic officials had  tried since January on orders of Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama.

With parallel parking “This is the scheme that the CCTO sees fit to ensure a smooth flow of traffic in the rotunda,” said  Rey Gealon,  executive director of the Cebu City Traffic Office, who got on board last month.

He said the old “carousel” scheme occupied two lanes  for diagonal parking and another lane for drop-offs  but  made  it difficult for drivers to maneuver    around the rotunda with fewer road lanes.

There was more parking space for vehicles but the scheme used three of the seven lanes of  Fuente rotunda.

With the new parallel parking scheme, only one lane, the outermost one near the sidewalk , is occupied  for parking.

The second outermost lane is  used for dropping off  passengers but can also be used by moving vehicles.

At first, business establishments didn’t like reducing the   parking space, said Gealon.

“It’s 50 percent less parking space for them but  then, it’s a matter of balancing interests. If it means we can provide more lanes for the public to use, then we have to sacrifice  private interests,” he said.