Citom ready for Ironman

A WARNING to motorists.

Portions of Cebu City roads from the Mahiga bridge located near the Cebu Ports Authority to the Plaza Independencia and the South Coastal Road will be closed to vehicular traffic in the morning of August 5 to give way for the Iron Man Triathlon.

Rafael Yap, head of the City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) office, said traffic enforcers will be deployed and signages will be installed on the affected roads to guide motorists and commuters during the event.

They have also coordinated with city veterinarian Alice Utlang  to clear the roads of stray animals which may disrupt the competition.

“On Cebu City’s side we are ready to implement traffic rerouting to accommodate the international event. We are honored to be hosting the triathlon,” he said.

The Ironman triathlon is set to start at about 6 a.m. The starting line for the event will be in Lapu Lapu City.

Around 2,000 triathletes will join this year’s international triathlon event staged by Cobra Energy Drink.

The 90 kilometer cycling portion will cover Lapu-Lapu, Mandaue, Cebu and Talisay cities.

Yap said they will be closing S. Osmeña Road from the Mahiga bridge to the Plaza Independencia and the South Coastal Road starting at 6 a.m. and until the race is finished by about noontime.

“But we expect that road closure will not be very disruptive. We do not expect much complaints from the motorists because it’s a Sunday and traffic volume is minimal,” he said.

Yap said  there are also roads like A. Soriano Avenue and M. J. Cuenco Avenue which may used as alternative road to S. Osmeña Road.

For motorists who will be barred from using the South Coastal Road, they will be diverted to N. Bacalso Avenue.

“We are now developing our traffic map for submission to the provincial government. Maybe we can already have this by the end of the week,” said Yap.