Flyovers should be set in SRP, not in urban core, dean says

Any flyover projects would have to be built outside the urban core or in peripheral areas that would facilitate the entry and exit of vehicles to and from Cebu City.

Based on this urban planning principle, Architect Joseph Espina, dean of the College of Architecture and Fine Arts in the University of San Carlos (USC), said a better location for flyovers would be the South Road Properties (SRP) or North Reclamation Area (NRA).

Espina gave the assessment amid a threat by flyover opponents to file suit to stop the rise of two flyovers planned for Gorordo Avenue and M.J. Cuenco Avenue this year.

“We are already prepared. If they don’t listen to us, we will go to court,” said businessman Joel Lee.

Lee is the convenor of the Movement for a Liveable Cebu, formerly called the Stop Cebu Flyovers Movement.

Espina said the plan of former congressman Raul del Mar to build a series of seven flyovers in the city would only worsen traffic congestion.

“I doubt if it can solve our traffic problems. It would only worsen the traffic inside the urban core by inviting more vehicles, concentrating it in their areas,” Espina said.

Based on principles of urban planning, Espina said that flyovers should be placed outside the urban core, in this case The SRP or North Reclamation Area.

Espina said del Mar and his daughter Rep. Rachel “Cutie” del Mar of Cebu City’s south district, should have consulted the public first before proceeding with the flyover projects.

“A master plan should be a community initiative. The planners must only come in when we already have a vision for our city. Flyovers are expensive infrastructures that are difficult to destroy. We better stop it now while we still can,” Espina said.

Meanwhile, Lee said the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH-7) and del Mar violated Section 25 of the Republic Act 7160 or the Local Government Code which requires public consultation before the implementation of government projects.

He also lamented the absence of a master plan for the two flyovers along the juncture of MJ Cuenco and Gorordo Avenue and Maxilom and Archbishop Reyes Avenues which costs P300 million each.

The elder del Mar said he wants to see a network of seven flyovers in the city’s northern district, including one near the Carmelite’s monastery in barangay Mabolo.

He said these proposed two-lane flyovers with a length of .400 km each will be built in the junction of Gorordo Avenue and Salinas Drive, Gorordo Avenue and Dona Modesta Gaisano Street and Juan Luna Avenue and MJ Cuenco Avenue.

The Gorordo-Salinas drive flyover is worth P200 million while Gorordo Avenue and Dona Modesta Gaisano St flyover is worth P180 million.

The flyover in Juan Luna Avenue and MJ Cuenco Avenue is worth P230 million.

Del Mar said the network of seven flyover projects for the north district will resolve traffic congestion. /Candeze R. Mongaya, Reporter