Traffic congestion still source of headaches in Metro Cebu

CEBU CITY—As in Metro Manila, the traffic problem in Metro Cebu has not been solved as promised, six months into the Duterte administration, according to local business leaders.

“What improvement have you seen? Before, when you wake up at 6:30 (a.m.) and hit the road at 7 (a.m.), you can still arrive at your destination at 8 (a.m.). Now, you have to wake up an hour earlier,” said Philip Tan, past president of the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

For his part, the president of the Cebu Business Club, Gordon Alan Joseph, noticed very minimal improvement since traffic discipline and law enforcement had not been addressed consistently. “If there were consistent and strict enforcement (of traffic laws), I think traffic [flow] could improve even without emergency powers for infrastructure,” Joseph said.

The Duterte administration has vowed to solve the country’s traffic situation in key cities, including Metro Cebu, and has asked for emergency powers from Congress to check gaps without going through tedious bureaucratic processes.

Tan said he did not expect changes on the road to happen in less than two years. “Let us be positive. Improvements will happen because of the leadership, but right now, we can’t improve on something that still needs to be corrected,” he said.

Undisciplined drivers

Going after the undisciplined drivers and dealing with the poor infrastructure should be done first before any improvement could be seen, Tan said.

“Right now, we cannot undo something that has been happening for so many years in just six months. The President even vowed to cleanse the country of illegal drugs in six months, but look where we are now,” he said.

The intensified campaign against illegal drugs may have restricted the supply but it has not eradicated the drug menace despite the death of over 5,000 drug peddlers and users, either by police officers or vigilantes.

Since the administration ramped up infrastructure spending, the challenge today is how to reeducate drivers on road discipline, Tan said. This, he said, involves their pulling over at designated stops, heeding traffic signals and giving way, among others.

He said discipline and strict enforcement of rules in local governments would result in a “slight” improvement in Cebu’s traffic situation, even without the solutions the government is proposing.

Infrasctructure projects

Joseph said real and significant infrastructure-driven improvements could be felt in at least five years. “But I believe with proper enforcement of the law, as well as driver and public education, there might just be a 10 to 15 percent reduction in traffic [congestion],” he said.

The infrastructure projects include the construction of a bridge linking Cebu City to Cordova town, which will allow people to reach Mactan Island without passing through Mandaue City, where congestion is greatly felt since vehicles from all directions converge.

However, Cebu City’s P10.6-billion Bus Rapid Transit project may be delayed for another year reportedly after the previous administration failed to sign its consultancy contracts. Work was originally slated for the early part of 2017 and expected to be operational the following year.

A feasibility study would be conducted for a bypass road through Mandaue and Consolacion and Liloan towns to ease traffic along the Tayud-Liloan Road.

Traffic management

The Mega Cebu Development and Coordinating Board is seeking the approval of another feasibility study for the traffic management plan for Metro Cebu, which deals with area traffic control, urban transport, and transit management.