Citom: No road closures except on Sundays

THE Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) will not allow another road closure for the Road Revolution campaign unless it is held on a Sunday and has the approval of Mayor Michael Rama and the City Council.

Citom Chairman Sylvan “Jack” Jakosalem said the traffic board yesterday agreed to defer action on the request of organizers to repeat the road experiment.

Citom will wait for a recommendation from the mayor and city legislature, he said.

“As early as now, we don’t want it in any roads that would affect the mobility of people in going to work,” Jakosalem told Cebu Daily News after the Citom board’s weekly meeting. For now, only Sundays would be considered.

The decision came following Saturday’s 12-hour closure of Colon Street and two downtown roads to vehicles to give way to pedestrians and bikers for a Heritage Tour for youths and Part 2 of the Road Revolution led by environmental lawyer Antonio Oposa Jr.

The activity drew wide complaints from store owners, commuters and motorists who were caught by surprise by the rerouting authorized by Citom.

Jakosalem yesterday said the activity should not be held again in “busy” streets as provided in a city ordinance.

Vice Mayor Joy Augustus Young agreed.

“It’s not wrong to make a stand but they (organizers) must be open to the reactions of the many. I suggest that they do it on a Sunday and they do it in streets where most establishments are closed,” Young said.

Jakosalem suggested that the next “Road Revolution” should be held at night in the South Road Properties where traffic is not heavy and sidewalks are wider.

Oposa has requested Citom to support their next activity to “share public space” with pedestrians and vehicles in Osmeña Boulevard, site of the first Road Revolution on June 12.

But Jakosalem said Osmeña Boulevard doesn’t have to be closed for this since sidewalks are wide enough for pedestrians.

But he said the Citom board is open to setting up a 1.2-meter-wide bike lane on the boulevard.

“We’ve been wary of setting up bike lanes because of jeepneys that stop anywhere but we can allocate a portion of the road just to experiment during the Road Revolution,” Jakosalem said.

Citom executive director Rafael Yap said if a busy street will be closed, organizers will be required to submit a traffic impact assessment. With a report from correspondent Edison A. delos Angeles