‘Skywalks should be user-friendly’

CEBU City Rep. Tomas Osmeña said skywalks around the city should be redesigned to make them easy to use by children and senior citizens.

“The design of our skywalks is wrong. The slope is too steep. Children and the elderly have a hard time climbing them because it’s too tiring,” said Osmeña.

The pedestrian overpasses were implemented by the Department of Public Works and Highways.

Osmeña said he is against the proposal of Cebu City Mayor Rama to demolish the skywalks, saying that modifying the design is better “than destroying the whole thing.”

Osmeña suggested retrofitting the stairs so that it follows a slope that is at par with international standards.

This ways, they only need to replace the stairs and extend their length.

The process may affect some driveways but this is doable, he said.

The congressman said people would not mind walking a longer distance than climbing a steep stair.

Cebu Daily News’ “Siloy is Watching” corner has frequently shown photos of underused skywalks in the city where pedestrians are seen jaywalking under them.

Osmeña said he asked DPWH Engr. Nicomedes Leonor of the Cebu City Engineering District to find a skywalk that “could be modified and used as a pilot project with stairs at 7 percent slope” like the ones used in Bogota, Colombia.

This change would also be in preparation for the planned establishment of a Bus Rapid Transit.

Osmeña has not sponsored the construction of skywalks from his pork barrel or Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) but said he’s willing to so so for the modification of a pilot skywalk to check for feedback.

Osmeña said he has been asking the DPWH since last year even before Mayor Rama proposed to demolished the structures.