Downtown playground, tour route for a day

EIGHT-year-old Jefferson Pacana was all smiles as he rode his bicycle in Colon and Lopez Jaena streets,  which were closed to cars till sundown last Saturday.

The car-less routes in downtown Cebu City were part of the Road Revolution activity, led by environment lawyer Antonio Oposa Jr.  who is lobbying to provide more space on public roads for bike lanes, sidewalks, a mass transit system and gardens.

“It’s my first time to bike here because the streets are usually crowded with vehicles,” said Jefferson, who lives in nearby Logarta Street.

He played tag on the vacant street with friends who rode bikes with signs that read “We Love a Sustainable Cebu”.

With no neighborhood parks,  Jefferson and his friends usually turn to computers to play games.

On Saturday, the entire stretch of Lopez Jaena, P. Burgos and part of Colon Streets became his playground for a day.

Traffic was rerouted away from these areas from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. to make way for bikers, skateboarders and pedestrians.

Three satellite centers were set up to gather more signatures for a proposed ordinance on road system reform, which is pending before the Cebu City Council.

Road Revolution advocates submitted the proposal after the first  June 12 no-car exercise along Osmena Boulevard.

Under a special provision in the Local Government Code, citizens can initiate legislation in the local council by submitting a petition with at least 1,000 signatories for a city.  The local government is duty bound to act favorably within 30 days.

The three streets are part of the “heritage district” of Cebu City, where monuments and historic sites are located such as the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño, the Heritage of Cebu tableau, Cebu City Hall, Plaza Sugbo, Casa Gorordo, a Jesuit pre-war house and the Metropolitan Cathedral.

Students n Filipiniana attire moved around in groups  visiting different museums and monuments as part of the Kabataan, Kultura, Kabilin (Culture, Youth and Heritage) program of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc.

The 2,000 youths included students from the University of San Carlos, University of the Philippines Cebu College and the University of Southern Philipines.

“It’s ideal to walk through this area.  That way you have the time to appreciate the structures and look around,” Abigail Nunez, an 18-year old student said.

However, the road closure drew sharp complaints from commuters, drivers and business owners in the area.

Eddie Apostol, 35, said business was slow in his food stall in P. Burgos Street.  His usual customers – students and drivers– didn’t show up.

“There are usually  more customers  on a Saturday, but today, business is slow,” he said.

PUJ driver Rudy Arden, 31,had a simillar complaint.

“There were fewer passengers because they were confused about the rerouting,” Arden said.

By 3 p.m. He earned only P200 or  less than half the P600 he has to pay for the day’s rental of the jeepney, not  counting gasoline.

“Next time they do this, they should plan the routes carefully,”Arden said.

Rafael Yap, executive director of the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom), confirmed the short notice about route changes.

Yap said he was only informed last week about the Road Revolution activity which asked for road closures in the heritage district.

Citom protocol requires at least 15 days notification for a road closure.

Since Sept. 24 was also  the celebration of International Carless Day, Yap said  he allowed the Road Revolution team to merge their event with the pre-scheduled Heritage Walk of the RAFI.

Yap said drivers and establishments were notified days ahead of the actual road closure.

“It’s a technical issue that we will address, but people are already used to road closures in Colon Street for the night market,” he said.

While traffic was heavy, he said Citom identified enough alternate routes to lessen the congestion.

He said a mass wedding of 150 couples who walked from the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral to the Plaza Independencia for their wedding reception also contributed to the traffic.

“Citom recognizes the ideas espoused by the road revolution,” Yap said,

Fewer vehicles on the road means less traffic, he said.

He said pedestrian districts and having more areas to walk through  yields benefits for the environment, heritage awareness and eases traffic.

Yap emphasized the need to encourage more walking district, especially in heritage sites of Cebu City, and the need to change the public’s mind-set of “dependence on vehicles”.