Gorordo flyover work to start November — DPWH

There’s no stopping the rise of two flyovers in Cebu City, said an official of the Department of Public Works and Highways

Augustinito Hermoso, DPWH  legal officer in Central Visayas,   said work on the P300-million Gorordo Avenue flyover is set to begin in November.

The project was awarded to WTG Construction.

“Considering that there’s already a notice of award issued, the government guarantees that the project will push through. There’s nothing we can do about that,” Hermoso told the 888 News Forum in Marco Polo Plaza yesterday.

He said it would take at least 200 days to complete two flyovers in Cebu City.

Phase 1 or the work on the foundation posts will start next month.

Hermoso said WTG Construction won the bidding last August in Manila and the notice of award was issued in the first week of September.  Another firm, WT Construction, won the bid for the flyover in  MJ Cuenco Avenue near the Carreta cemetery.

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama and advocates of the Stop Cebu Flyovers citizens movement are trying to make last-ditch appeals to President Aquino and DPWH Secretary Singson to stop the projects.

They said the flyovers were being rushed without prior consultation with stakeholders or proper urban planning.

Critics of the flyovers, who include Cebu City traffic managers and faculty of the University of San Carlos College of Architecture and Fine Arts, said the flyovers were an “excessive” expense that does not address traffic congestion and would contribute to “urban decay” because of their location in the “urban core” of the city.

They said road widening, flared intersections and more access roads were better alternatives pending the completion of a long-term transport master plan for Cebu City.

On the impact on the Asilo dela Milagrosa, whose nuns worry about the “noise” and loss of part of their compound where the fence would be pushed back 3.7 meters, Hermosa yesterday assured that the flyover would not cause significant damage.

He said only the wall would be affected by the road widening.

Hermosa didn’t elaborate on what the nuns and orphanage staff earlier showed Cebu Daily News as the extent of the setback.

The distance measured from the red painted “+3.70” mark on the perimeter wall would mean having to destroy part of their garden, grotto, two guardhouses, part of the parking lot, a crisis intervention center,  and push back the wall up to the main door of the Miraculous Medal chapel.

Hermosa said environmental concerns raised by critics should be addressed to the Department o Environment and Natural Resources (DENR-7), which issued the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) for the project.

“It will have no impact on the environment,” Hermoso assured.

He said the DPWH has been studying Gorordo Avenue five years ago as a potential site for a flyover.

He said they assessed the type of soil in the area and whether it can support the foundations of a concrete overpass.

The DPWH also conducted a three-day, 24-hour traffic count of the vehicles to determine the feasibility of the project.

Hermosa said road widening was set aside because but  it would cost more to undertake. He said the government would have to pay  to compensate private landholders for a bigger area and the business establishments that will be affected.

For Gorordo Avenue alone, Hermoso said road widening would cost at least P1 billion.

He said the amount was “exorbitant” since most of the expenses would go to land costs rather than road construction.

“We’re an urban area. Highly urbanized cities like Manila have a lot of flyovers,” Hermoso said.

Meanwhile architect Joy Martinez Onozawa, a member of the Stop Cebu Flyovers Movement, said the Gorordo flyover would block a clear view of the Asilo dela Milagrosa, which is over 50 years old.

The obstructed view alone would destroy its heritage value she said.

Onozawa is a heritage conservation specialist and former executive committee member of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts for Monuments and Sites.

“They can’t block the view of the church. It is a heritage source. It reminds a person of where he belongs,” Onozawa said told Cebu Daily News.

“If you lose your heritage, you lose a part of your identity,” she said.

Soot from the exhaust of vehicles passing the flyover would enter the church and become a source of discomfort to churchgoers and nearby residents, she said.

The administrator of the Asilo dela Milagrosa earlier said the increased traffic in the flyover would disturb the “solemnity” and prayerful “ambience” of the church, which was built over 50 years ago.