Flyovers won’t reduce city traffic, Citom says

FLYOVERS don’t reduce traffic congestion as shown by the presence of the Governor Cuenco Avenue flyover, the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) said yesterday.

Citom Executive Director Rafael Yap said there are other alternative solutions to the city’s traffic problems other than building expensive flyovers.

“We are not against flyover per se. What we are asking for is rationalization in putting up a flyover,” he told Cebu Daily News.

Yap said the Banilad flyover built along Governor Cuenco Avenue and A. S. Fortuna Street was opposed by the Phil. Institute of Civil Engineers.

The group questioned the decision to built the two-lane flyover in a four-lane road.

“Why that solution? The civil engineers believe that there are other solutions that can be explored. I use that as primary reference for problems on flyovers,” Yap said.

He said the proposed flyover project along Doña Modesta Road in Sudlon Lahug is another project that should be reviewed.

“What is the basis for that? The road is narrow, yes. But how many vehicles can it accommodate in Modesta Road? It would be okay if they assign a traffic enforcer or put up a traffic light?” Yap said.

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama earlier wrote public works secretary Rogelio Singson to register his opposition to a plan to put up P1.3-billion worth of flyover projects in the city.

Instead, Rama called for a transport master plan to be completed to “solve the horrendous traffic problem” in Cebu City.

Rama said flyover projects were budgeted without proper study from traffic experts. Yap said traffic “is not a political issue.”

“It is a mathematical, it is a social issue. It’s not something for us to casually decide that, okay we’ll build flyovers there. There should be rationalization and basis for deciding flyovers in that area,” he said.

He said the DPWH should not only plan flyovers for Cebu City but also consider long-term traffic plans.

Land use and transportation are two parallel concerns, the Citom official said. Correspondent Edison A. Delos Angeles