South Cebu travelers told: Be prepared for weekend traffic

Rehabilitation work on the flyover in Barangay Tabunok, Talisay City will start Friday evening until Sunday. The flyover will be closed during that period. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)

Plan your weekend travel.

Traffic officials of the cities of Cebu and Talisay said traffic congestion might become a problem for south Cebu residents with the closure of the flyover in Barangay Tabunok, Talisay City, starting on Friday night.

Engineer Leslie Anthony Molina of the second engineering district of the Department of Public Works and Highways in Central Visayas (DPWH-7) said they would already proceed with phase 1 of the flyover rehabilitation project and would hope to finish the job before Cebuanos report for work on Monday morning.

“If it does not rain, we will be able to finish as scheduled,” Molina said in an interview with radio dyAB.

Phase 1 of the project worth around P9 million will include scrapping of the old asphalt, water proofing and asphalt overlay.

Flyover closure was originally scheduled at nighttime from March 18 to May 5.

It was later on changed to the whole days of March 18 and 19.

But since construction materials were still unavailable then, the flyover rehab was moved to a new schedule from March 31 (Friday) to midnight of April 2 (Sunday).

Molina met with representatives of First Grandeur, Inc., the project contractor, and the construction materials supplier on Thursday morning to discuss final preparations for the flyover rehabilitation project.

During their meeting, the group agreed to use two backhoes to hasten asphalt removal starting on Friday night.

Waterproofing will then be made the whole day on Saturday that will be followed by the application of the first layer of asphalt on Saturday night.

Second asphalt application is scheduled from 11 p.m. on April 4 (Tuesday) until 5 a.m. of April 5 (Wednesday).

While the flyover rehab is ongoing, motorists using the flyover will be asked to use pocket roads located below it and other diversion roads in Barangay Tabunok.

Francisco Ouano, operations head of the Cebu City Traffic Operations Office, said southbound buses would be allowed to use South Road Properties (SRP) roads during the duration of the flyover rehab.

But he warned about 20 bus operators, whom he met with last week, to remind their drivers to only travel at a 40- to 50-kilometer speed while using SRP roads to prevent accidents.

Ouano said they would also be doing vehicle volume assessment at the city’s southern corridor today to determine if there would be a need to also adjust the allowable travel time for traffic lights at the Basak and Mambaling areas that are considered as among the city’s traffic choke points.