‘Watch our for windy SRP route’

ANOTHER weather factor to watch out for in Sunday’s triathlon is the wind.

It may be strong enough to blow lightweight racer bikers off course along the South Coastal Road, said Raffy Yap, head of the Cebu City Traffic Operations and Management (Citom).

The coastal road from Mandaue Reclamation Area to the SRP tunnel in Cebu City and Talisay City is part of the bike route of the Ironman 70.3.

Yap said a motorcycle fell on its side while traveling near the Sugbu building on Wednesday because of strong winds.

“If the motorcycle fell, how much more the bicycles to be used in the race.  I think organizers have to look into this concern,” he said yesterday.

Yap also advised the riding public heading for the port area or the Mactan airport on Sunday to start out earlier than usual and anticipate traffic rerouting.

Two of four lanes of the Marcelo Fernan Bridge will be closed to traffic for Ironman bikers from 5 a.m. to 12 noon on Sunday. The old Mandaue-Mactan Bridge will also be sealed off to traffic.

Vehicles using S. Osmena Road in the North Reclamation Area will be diverted to parallel roads like A. Soriano Street and M. J. Cuenco Avenue.

Those using the South Coastal Road will be directed to N. Bacalso Avenue.

The Citom head said the Cebu City traffic rerouting plan for the triathlon was completed last week. A total of 240 traffic enforcers will be fielded.

The hosting of the Ironman 70.3 will test the preparations of cities of Lapu-Lapu, Mandaue, Cebu and Talisay.

Cebu City Mayor Michael was briefed yesterday by the city’s organizing committee on preparations.

“The event should be treated in such a way that it will cause less inconvenience or a manageable inconvenience for the people of Cebu City,” he said.

“We just have to think of coordination.”/Correspondent Edison A. delos Angeles