Council wants budget for widening restored
To ease traffic congestion in the area, the Cebu City Council urged the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to restore the budget it had shelved for the widening of the Mambaling access road.
The council also asked DPWH to implement the road widening project as soon as the funds for it are released by the National Government.
Before these measures were approved on Tuesday, opposition Councilor Jocelyn Pesquera initially filed a proposed resolution urging the executive department to issue a cease-and-desist order (CDO) against DPWH on the ongoing construction of the multi-million underpass project on N. Bacalso Ave.
“The purpose of the issuance of the CDO was to supposedly add pressure on DPWH if the mayor (Tomas Osmeña) will also act on it,” she said in an interview.
Pesquera’s proposal, though, drew different opinions from her colleagues in the council.
Councilor Dave Tumulak objected to the proposal, saying that stopping the project would worsen traffic in the area.
Tumulak, a resident of the south district like Pesquera, observed that the contractor has fast-tracked construction work in the area after it was invited by the council to an executive session earlier this month.
Last April 3, the council invited representatives from DPWH Central Visayas, Cebu City Transportation Office and WT Construction Inc., the project contractor, to an executive session to shed light on the status of the project.
As of March 25, DPWH project Engineer Roy dela Cruz said the underpass was already 68 percent completed.
He also said earlier that DPWH already has a budget for the expansion of the side roads, but their office is still working on the acquisition of road-right-of-way (RRW).
Because of this, Councilor Alvin Arcilla said it is important to know if the RRW acquisition would involve lot owners or infrastructure.
Councilor Eugenio Gabuya Jr.,who also resides in the south, said the traffic congestion is not caused by the work on the depressed area on N. Bacalso Ave., but due to an ongoing work by a utility company at the corner of Vestil St.
“If we urge Pilipinas Water to fast-track their lining of pipes, I think that will help ease traffic,” he said.
After a nearly 30-minute discussion, Pesquera decided to amend her initial resolution and forego the proposed CDO.
“I amended it para di na mag divide the house,” she said.