A third bridge across the Mactan Channel has long been proposed by development planners.
Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama mentioned it again as one of his priority plans in his State of the City Address on Monday. He said he is counting on the support of Cordova municipality on the other side of the channel.
“Provincial Board Member Arleigh Sitoy also wanted it. A bridge is better than a tunnel,” he said.
But Cebu city south district Rep. Tomas Osmeña said a third bridge is not feasible.
“That is only doable if you close the ports of Cebu,” he said.
The water between Cebu City and Cordova town is very shallow and only about 500 meters wide, he said. It’s not enough to accommodate a bridge, which would have to use a very steep slope. Osmena said that if you build a bridge there, its approaches may reach Colon Street just to give it a better slope.
Rama said a third bridge is being studied by the the Infrastructure Development Committee of the Regional Development Council. It was first recommended by the Metro Cebu Land Use and Transport Study (MCLUTS) in the 1980s. Businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan mentioned the need for a third bridge recently in a forum after the PLDT annual stockholders meeting in Makati. /Chief of Reporters Doris C. Bongcac