Citom Eyes Socoro Road for ‘One-Way’ Access

The road from Gorordo Avenue to Perpetual Succour Hospital is very congested and very risky for the pedestrians because it is being used as a two-way road.

Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (CITOM) Executive Officer Rafael Christopher Yap said he will start to evaluate the request to declare Socoro Road as “one way” to vehicles in order to prevent accidents involving vehicles and pedestrians.

The so-called “Socoro Road” in Barangay Kamputhaw is the narrow street that traverses from Gorordo Avenue to Perpetual Succour Hospital, but despite the road is narrow, it is being used as two-way access that might cause accidents in the future.

Lydia C. Tumulak, one of the residents in that area had sent a letter to Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella asking the latter to help that the narrow road would be declared one way.

“The road is very congested for two-way lane and vulnerable for accident, particularly to senior citizens, persons with disability and children,” Tumulak told the vice mayor.

Tumulak recalled that the Socorro Road is not a public road because it was intended only for the homeowners in the area, however, the road was later used by the hospital personnel and their clients, some taxis and private vehicles.

“Ako na bitaw nga giingnan ang mga madre nga nagdumala sa ospital nga mangita sila og karsada nga ilang magamit,” she said. Tumulak explained that she is not against that the road will be used by the public, but it should not be two-way.

At the entrance of the Socorro Road from Gorordo Avenue there are carenderias and some barbecue stalls that added to the traffic congestion and prompted the pedestrians to walk directly in the road hampering the flow of traffic.

If the Socorro Road would be declared one way to vehicles, either from or to Gorordo Avenue, the other narrow road from Gonzalez Compound that also traverses from Escario Street to Perpetual Succour Hospital shall be also cleared of obstacles.

Meanwhile, City Planning and Development Officer Kenneth Carmelita Enriquez had coordinated already with City Fire Marshall Rogelio Bongabong for the preparation of the necessary documents to widen the narrow access roads situated in the interior portions of several barangays in the city.

Enriquez said she will try her best that the necessary amount to be used for the widening of the interior roads of the barangays be included in the next year’s annual budget.