Fernan Bridge – 2 lanes for bike race; South coastal road off limits to cars
TRAFFIC will be rerouted for Sunday’s international triathlon in Metro Cebu.
The public should avoid taking the coastal road from Talisay City to Mandaue City where the Ironman 70.3 bike course will take place in the morning of Aug. 5.
Both lanes of the South Coastal Road from Talisay City Hall to Plaridel Street in Mandaue City will be off limits to vehicles from 5 a.m. to 12 noon.
If you’re catching a flight in the Mactan airport or heading for Lapu-Lapu City on Sunday morning, you’ll have to shift to the left lane of the Marcelo Fernan Brige.
The right lane going to Mactan island will be kept free for Ironman participants on racing bikes.
To get to Mactan, motorists have to take UN Avenue in Mandaue City from the corner of Pacific Mall (formerly Mandaue Metro).
J. Briones street in Centro Mandaue to A. Soriano Avenue leading to the Mandaue Reclamation Area will be fully closed.
CEBU CITY
In Cebu City, the entire 240-man force of the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) will be on field to guide vehicles.
“There’s no cause for worry because we’ve prepared for it,” said Citom head Rafael Yap.
“We’ve done several marathons in the past.”
Citom is closing S. Osmena Road from the Mahiga Bridge in the boundard of Mandaue and Cebu cities to Legaspi Extension, the SRP tunnel at the Plaza Independencia and the South Coastal Road from 5 a.m. to noon of Sunday.
With the closure, vehicles coming from the north and using S. Osmena Road will be diverted to the nearby A. Soriano and M.J. Cuenco Avenues.
Vehicles from the south and using the South Coastal Road will be diverted to N. Bacalso Avenue then to Imus Road.
PORT AREA
For motorists from south Cebu including trucks and private vehicles would have to use N. Bacalso Avenue in going to their destination.
Avoid the coastal roads except if they are going to the port area.
People arriving at and coming from the Cebu City port area will have to use the access at Pier 1 above the South Coastal Road tunnel, said Sylvan “Jack” Jakosalem, Citom chairman.
“That is the only access they will have to the port,” he said.
The event starts at the Shangri-la Resort and Spa Mactan with a 1.9 kilometer swim course and on to a 90 kilometer bike course from the resort to Talisay City. Bikers will pass through the SRP tunnel.
In Cebu City, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is busy repairing potholes to ensure a smooth bicycle race for participants.
DPWH-Project Management Office are now repairing the potholes from the SRP to Sergio Osmeña Road at the North Reclamation Area.
“I was assured by PMO Roger Quibilan that the repairs will be done before the race. He assured that it will be on time,” Jakosalem told Cebu Daily News.
The bike course will follow an M-Loop from the Cebu International Convention Center in Mandaue City to Talisay City.
From Lapu-Lapu, Ironman athletes will take the rightmost lane going south and then make a u-turn and take the other lane going back to CICC and then bike towards Talisay using the left lane and then turn around in the same lane once they reach Talisay City Hall before going back to the Shangri-la resort.
