Motorists, Commuters Urged to Brace for Heavy Traffic During Ironman

(PNA) — The Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) has urged motorists and commuters to brace for heavy traffic during the Cobra Energy Drink Ironman 70.3 triathlon event on Sunday, Aug. 3.

Some 2,500 triathletes from all over the world are expected to converge in Cebu to join the event that will be jointly hosted by the cities of Lapu-Lapu, Mandaue, Cebu and Talisay.

In a traffic advisory, Citom said the entire stretch of S. Osmeña Blvd. to Legaspi Ext. all the way to the South Coastal Road tunnel in the South Road Properties in Cebu City to Talisay City will be closed to vehicular and human traffic from 5 a.m. to 12 noon on Sunday.

Traffic along and across the race route will be rerouted and commuters must be prepared to walk to their respective destinations near the race route.

On Sunday, the old Mactan-Mandaue Bridge will be closed to vehicles coming from Mandaue City from 4 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Motorists bound for Lapu-Lapu can use only one lane of the Marcelo B. Fernan Bridge, as the other two lanes will be part of the race route.

The lanes going to Mandaue City will remain open.

Cebu took over the hosting of the Cobra Ironman in 2012 after Camarines Sur, which hosted the race from 2009 to 2011.

The move to Cebu saw the race grow by leaps and bounds, from a mere 583 triathletes in 2009 to more than 2,500 participants this year from 40 countries.

The race consist of a 1.9 kilometer swim, a 90.1 kilometer bike race and a 21.1 kilometer run. (PNA) LAM/EB

Cebu City traffic re-routing can be viewed here.

Image Credit: www.cebu.gov.ph