Don’t extend truck ban, Mandaue traders ask

Construction materials are being readied on the sidewalk in front of the Mandaue Sports complex for the improvement of A. Soriano Avenue in Mandaue City. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)

Mandaue City’s business leaders were uneasy over an extended truck ban with the start of the repairs on the Mandaue-Mactan bridge this week.

Donato Busa, Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) president, said the longer truck ban will not ease the traffic congestion but will instead  worsen it.

Trucks are banned from Mandaue City’s streets from 6 a.m.  to 8 a.m. and from 5 p.m.  to 8 p.m. daily.

“Hopefully, we can meet with the mayor next week,” Busa said.

“We can’t afford to have truck bans lengthened because shipments to piers and factories will be delayed. Our window of opportunity will narrow even further,” he told Cebu Daily News.

Busa said they asked that schools dismiss their students early so as  not to coincide with delivery schedules of trucks.

He said the traffic congestion caused one-hour delays in deliveries.

With the bridge repairs tomorrow, he said they expect the delays to worsen.

“Mawa man sad ang pagka Kristiyano nato tungod sa traffic (We lose our Christianity because of the traffic),” Busa said.

“If there’s a vehicular accident, let them go to the side of the road immediately. There’s no need to let them stay in the middle of the road for so long, making it hard for cars and trucks to pass. No more double parking on the roads. The big trucks should practice ‘nose-in-nose-out’ when parking,” Busa said.

Businessman Bunny Pages also suggested creating “pockets” for jeepneys at designated  roadsides  where they can load and unload passengers instead of occupying part of a lane.

Busa said the businessmen have no choice but to bear with the traffic congestion caused by the bridge repairs and the Ouano Avenue improvement.

“These projects are long overdue. If we stop this, it will create more problems in the long run,” he said.

The regional Department of Public Works and Highways said work on the Ouano Avenue improvement started yesterday with contractor PB Obial Construction excavating 200 meters of DM Cortes or Plaridel Street.

Glenn Antigua, Traffic Enforcement Agency of Mandaue (TEAM) operations chief, said DM Cortes Street is wider than A. Soriano Street which will  help ease traffic congestion  caused by the Mandaue-Mactan bridge repairs.

He said the bridge is open only to vehicles going to Lapu-Lapu City while DM Cortes Street leads motorists straight to Cebu City or southern Cebu.

Antigua said yesterday’s traffic was moderate in A.  Soriano and DM Cortes streets since there were no classes.

He said he was assured by the contractor that they will finish the road upgrade before the May 8 fiesta of Mandaue City.