Saturday, November 10, 2012
Cebu flyovers ‘will push through’
Sunday, November 11, 2012
CEBU CITY – The flyover projects proposed by Representative Rachel “Cutie” Del Mar (Cebu City, north district) in Cebu City will be implemented soon, said Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Mar Roxas.
In a news conference in Cebu City last Friday, Roxas said the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is addressing the concerns raised by those opposing the projects.
These include widening the roads where the flyovers will be constructed, like Gorordo and M.J. Cuenco Avenues.
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“It is just a matter of time. Definitely, it will push through,” he said.
He couldn’t say, though, when exactly the project will be implemented, saying that DPWH is the agency on top of it.
Mayor Michael Rama and the Movement for Livable Cebu have advised against the implementation of flyover projects in the city. They believe roads should be widened before flyover projects will be implemented.
Residents of Barangay Kasambagan in Cebu City have made public their opposition to the construction of a flyover in their area.
Henrietta Robins, a businesswoman, said the proposed flyover at the junction of F. Cabahug St. and John Paul II Avenue would “destroy the vicinity, the aura of the place.”
She added that the structure is not appropriate for the proposed area.
“This (F. Cabahug St.) is only an access road, not a main thoroughfare. The roads here are very small,” she said. Robins is one of the members of a newly constituted group, the Movement for a Livable Cebu (MLC) Kasambagan chapter.
The MLC, composed of residents and owners of business establishments along Gorordo Ave., has opposed the construction of a flyover in their area.
The project has since been shelved after DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson declared it wasn’t feasible.
Solutions
At a press conference on Saturday, Robins said they have gathered 100 signatures of their neighbors and that they have sent letters to government officials, including Kasambagan barangay officials.
“We were not consulted by any public official (about the project). We only knew about this through a streamer at the corner (of F. Cabahug St. and John Paul II Ave.) and a newspaper article last Oct. 16,” she said.
Robins said the article was about the last Cebu City Development Council (CCDC) meeting where the flyover issue was raised.
Rudy Alix, MLC co-convenor, said MLC urban planners have come up with studies and interim solutions to ease traffic flow that will have long-lasting effects and are 70 to 80 percent cheaper than a flyover.
“The stand of MLC is, if we invest in infrastructure, we should invest in the proper design. Start everything with a comprehensive planning,” he said.
The group is proposing flared intersections or wide intersections that would provide vehicles space to maneuver when they make a turn and assure continuous traffic flow, instead of a flyover.
Planning
Joy Onozawa, MLC co-convenor, said the group is against projects that would increase car usage because there are environmental laws that have to be complied with.
“There should be a comprehensive development plan for mobility. There are no transport or mobility plans (in Cebu),” she added.
The group also showed two video clips of the traffic situation on two existing flyovers, the Banilad-Talamban area and Archbishop Reyes Ave.
The clips, which were shot last Thursday and Friday, respectively, between 6:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. showed long queues of vehicles and stalled traffic.
“If flyovers are not really necessary, the (government) should spend its millions on schools, drainage and hospitals,” said Robins.
The MLC-Kasambagan chapter sent a letter to Kasambagan Barangay Captain Jose Lim asking for copies of a barangay resolution supporting the placement of a tarpaulin streamer in support of flyover projects. They also asked for the barangay resolution authorizing the captain to sign a petition supporting the construction of a flyover in the area.
“Since the flyover projects were again proposed to the Cebu City Development Council without compliance with the foregoing requirements, they are subject to question,” the group said.
Listen, please
They reminded the Kasambagan Barangay Council of the Local Government Code’s requirement on public consultations before supporting any project. Its impact on the environment and heritage should also be studied.
In a statement, the group called for realigning the flyover funds to “relevant projects” like an alternative, cost-effective intersection design, opening up dead ends, improving the drainage system, and clearing sidewalks.
The MLC made a similar plea in a letter addressed to President Benigno Aquino III, Secretary Roxas, DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson, Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama, Vice Mayor Joy Yong, Congresswoman del Mar and her father Raul, who is running for Congress in the May 2013 elections.
Responding to Roxas in a separate press conference, Onozawa said he must prove his statement that flyovers are good for Cebu.
“We intend to fight that (government’s plan to implement flyover projects) legally, up to the Supreme Court,” said Louella Alix, MLC co-convenor.
She recalled that DPWH’s Singson already stopped the Gorordo flyover project because it was not feasible.
“Our experience is, government listens to us,” she added. (With Princess D. Felicitas/Sun.Star Cebu)
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