The physical or geographic configuration of Metro Cebu is aligned from north to south. To the east is the seawater and to the west are the mountain ranges. Nothing much can be done there. With these limitations, Metro Cebu’s pattern of development requires a linear north-south alignment. This follows the main thoroughfare or national highway that connects the cities and towns in Metro Cebu, starting from the center in Cebu City and radiating to the north or south line of the highway.
Cebu City, because of its central location and presence of a good port, became the first human settlement in Cebu to become a city where many types of human activities, including industrial production, finance and trade, could be found. But as the city continued to grow, many of its people and business establishments soon found it more convenient to live or locate in nearby areas outside the city. And so began the trickle-down effect, which resulted in the rapid development of its close neighbors. This first included Mandaue City, where many of the small and medium industries decided to locate for lack of industrial land in Cebu City, followed by Lapu-Lapu City, where the international airport was constructed and export processing or economic zones were established to take advantage of the airport’s presence.
These three cities have become the core of Metro Cebu. Once they become congested, however, human settlements and economic growth also tend to slow down. Under this predicament, the continued growth of Metro Cebu is possible only if development is extended further north or south of the Metro Cebu core. This we see already by the rapid growth of human settlements and economic activities in towns and cities further north of Mandaue City and south of Cebu City today, that is, Danao City in the north and Carcar City in the south. As this happens though, it also makes it more expensive for people to travel to the center where most of the business and other types of human transactions are conducted. But this is another story.
We now have the South Road Properties in the south. What is in the north?
In the north, particularly in adjoining municipalities of Consolacion and Liloan, a wide area of underdeveloped land east of and far from the national highway has suddenly become easily accessible after the construction of the Cansaga Bridge. The new bridge provides a second gateway or entry and exit point to and from north of Metro Cebu. From Mandaue City, the new bridge leads directly to a provincial road that bisects this hitherto underdeveloped land from Tayud, Consolacion to Liloan. Known as the Tayud provincial road, this road, however, is still far from the coast of Consolacion and Liloan, which offers more potential for development, hence the proposed Metro Cebu North Coastal Road which will run almost parallel to the existing Tayud provincial road but following the line closer the coastal area of Consolacion and Liloan
The new road is actually part of the original Cebu North Coastal Road Project, which consisted of two packages—the construction of the Cansaga Bridge and its approaches and the construction of a new bypass road close to the coast of Consolacion from the north approach of Cansaga Bridge up to Liloan. The project is an integral part of the overall road network system being proposed and developed in Metro Cebu which runs parallel to the existing main north-south line of the road in Metro Cebu. It is the last remaining link to complete the arterial bypass or coastal road from the southern district of Talisay City in the south, to Cebu City and Mandaue City, and up to Consolacion and Liloan in the north.
As we see now, the construction of the Cansaga Bridge component of the project has already been completed and only the bypass road remains to be done. From Cansaga Bridge, the bypass road will follow a northeasterly direction towards the end point at the junction of the existing Cebu North Road in barangay Jagobiao with a total length of 8 kilometers. When constructed, it will not only provide a new exit route to the north; it will also open up the hitherto underdeveloped coastal areas in Liloan and Consolacion to new development. This can include not only residential but also commercial and industrial purpose development, including tourism. Note that in Liloan where the proposed new road will end, there is already a fast developing tourism attraction that can further grow with the opening of the new coastal road and the coming of other new developments to the area.
Already identified for location in the area is the proposed new international port, in case a new one is really needed to support or replace the smaller international port in Cebu City. The rest of the area can be planned as well into a mixed commercial, industrial and tourism zone that when developed can bring in more investments to Metro Cebu in addition to what is going to come to the South Road Properties when fully developed.
Will this be realized? How soon?