Citom, DPWH split on how to stop flyover jaywalkers

From the Talamban side, the concrete lane divider at the foot of the Banilad-Talamban flyover was destroyed and was moved from its original location. Cebu City Traffic Operations Management painted the lane divider and a portion of the wall of the flyover with black and yellow stripe after the vehicle driven by Carina Gajudo crashed into it February 23, 2013. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/ CITOM)

Officials are split on whether putting up railing at the foot of the Banilad-Talamban flyover would prevent pedestrians from crossing the road where a female call center agent was fatally hit by a speeding car last week.

Joy Tumulak, operations chief of the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom), said barriers or railings should be installed along the sidewalk near the base of the flyover to discourage people from crosssing the road.

But Ador Canlas, the regional director of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said putting up railings will not be an effective solution to the safety issue..

“Even if we put up barriers, will it prevent pedestrians from crossing? They will just go to the end of the railing and still cross even if it’s dangerous,” he said.

Canlas added that contructing an overhead pedestrian crossing or a skywalk would be difficult because of the limited space in the area.

The regional DPWH chief said he has directed his staff to inspect the area to determine what safety measures or engineering interventions can be adopted to avoid another accident from happening.

“I already told our maintenance section head to inspect the area to see what engineering measure can be done to safeguard pedestrians,” DPWH Regional Director Ador Canlas said.

Blocked vantage points

Canlas said he saw the closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera footage of the accident at the foot of the flyover.

He said both the driver of the car and the victim couldn’t have seen each other because their vantage points were blocked by a portion of the flyover.

In Feb. 23 last year, a local beauty titlist was seriously injured after she figured in a car crash at the same flyover in Cebu City.

Karina Gajudo, a resident of barangay Talamban, Cebu City, was aboard a car driven by 19-year-old Japanese, Junichi Kuribayashi, whom traffic accident investigators said was overspeeding.

The car’s right wheel got snagged in the flyover’s concrete lane divider causing Kuribayashi to lose control.

Canlas told reporters that he will wait for the inspection report of the DPWH maintenance section before recommending what courses of action to take.

Canlas said he will also direct his district engineers all over Central Visayas to inspect flyovers within their respective areas for possible safety issues and concerns.

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