Construction of LRT inevitable, claims del Mar
Cebu City North District Rep. Raul del Mar is proposing an “over and under” program for road transportation for a more efficient public transport system.
That means a light rail transit (LRT), or monorail, will be the mode of transportation on the road while a subway, or tunnel, will be constructed under it, del Mar said during the induction of officers of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry last Thursday.
With the present traffic condition, it’s time to look beneath the surface for a solution, he said.
“Going beneath the surface is practical and cost-efficient. No existing structures on the ground are demolished. The annoying and hugely expensive (road) right-of-way process is not required. Disruption of traffic on the ground will be held to a minimum,” he said.
Del Mar said that he has three tunnel projects in his district that have been put on hold because the Regional Development Council (RDC) 7 wants a feasibility study to be done first.
Del Mar also urged critics of the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) to stop blocking the project to avoid delay, saying the LRT will follow.
“We’re going to have eventually the BRT and the LRT, so enough of these maneuvers of delaying or discarding the BRT and substituting the same with the LRT. Let’s get it up and running and the LRT can follow. We need them both, as we consider other mass transport systems and other modern traffic mitigations, which may be found viable,” he said.
Meanwhile, some city residents expressed their gratitude to President Rodrigo Duterte for the BRT project by hanging tarpaulins on skywalks in Barangays Basak San Nicolas, Bulacao and Mabolo.
The BRT was approved during the time of former president Benigno Aquino III, but the additional budget for it was approved when President Duterte was already in power.