Tumulak: Traffic mgt Plan Needed to Solve Gridlock in Cebu North

The Cebu Provincial Government, through Cebu Provincial Focal Person on Traffic Management Jonathan Tumulak, coordinated with officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) 7 and some local government officials to map out measures on how to manage the traffic congestion in northern Cebu.

Tumulak said he requested for a meeting after receiving complaints on social media about heavy traffic, particularly in Consolacion town.

During the coordination meeting at the DPWH 7 Office at the South Road Properties in Cebu City, officials and representatives of Consolacion, Liloan and Mandaue City cited the road widening project of the DPWH in Tayud, Consolacion as the main cause of the traffic problem, aside from road accidents.

Tumulak suggested to the traffic management units of Mandaue, Consolacion and Liloan to come up with a traffic management plan, particularly in finding alternative routes while the road widening project in Tayud is not yet completed.

“A traffic management plan is needed in every road construction. I suggest nga come up nalang ta of kalit-kalit nga kausaban sa traffic para lang di ta maproblema sa traffic (congestion),” he said.

Works on the one-kilometer road widening project in Tayud, Consolacion was supposed to be completed on Jan. 10 this year, or after a total of 207 calendar days. However, it has been delayed, and the contractor, Rex E. Morales Construction, was only able to accomplish 18.93 percent of the roadworks.

The contract amount for the project is P55.551 million.

The Tayud Road, which connects to the Cansaga Bridge, is the alternative route for the commuters coming to and from northern Cebu.

However, motorists avoid the area and choose to take the national highway because of the stalled road widening project.

Project Engineer Roy Dela Cruz said the road widening was suspended because of the problem of the road right of way, the trees to be cut and the location of the drainage’s outfall.

Consolacion Mayor Teresa Alegado requested to the DPWH to have a monthly meeting with her, together with the contractor and the affected structure owners, to update her on the progress of the project.

“Before sad unta mag-start ang project moagi sad unta sa ako office aron I can assign a local engineer…Masulbad gyud unta ning Tayud kung naa tay coordination,” said Alegado.

The mayor said her constituents have been blaming the municipality for the traffic woes caused by the road widening projects, which the town has nothing to do about its implementation.

DPWH 7 Director Edgar Tabacon agreed with the mayor that a proper coordination in every DPWH project is vital, especially in coordinating with the affected structure owners.

He assured that the DPWH will be more prudent in choosing a contractor that has the capacity to do the job on time.

Glenn Antigua, chief for operations of the Traffic Enforcement Agency of Mandaue (TEAM), said his office recorded at least 42,000 trips going to Consolacion from UN Ave. in Mandaue City for just a period of 14 hours based on a survey funded by the Mandaue City Government. He said there are 22,000 trips that passes by the Cansaga Bridge coming from the northern Cebu in the same duration based on the survey.

Antigua said there are also 39,000 trips on the Mandaue-Mactan Bridge and another 39,000 trips on the road from Talamban going to Mandaue.

“Atong karsada di na gyud maka-accommodate sa gidaghanon… Ang mga taw di kasabot sa traffic, still, kami sa Mandaue naningkamot nga flowing lang gyud. Di man paspas basta flowing lang gyud,” he said.

Citing these statistics, Antigua said that Mandaue will suffer road congestion during mishaps.

He pointed out the need for the TEAM to have a boom truck to be dispatched during road accidents.

Tabacon said the DPWH 7 will also try to help Mandaue on the concern of a boom truck. (Cebu Provincial Gov’t)