Give DPWH studies on tunnels a chance, Del Mar asks

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will complete in the last three months of the year a feasibility study that will show if three tunnels being proposed for Cebu City would be viable.

Rep. Raul del Mar (Cebu City, north district) stressed this in his briefing last week for the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI), where he also appealed that “an idea, no matter where it comes from, must be heard and not shut out.”

Del Mar proposed three tunnels, which will be from D. Jakosalem to Talamban, going through Archbishop Reyes Ave. and Gov. M. Cuenco; from Salinas Drive to Pope John Paul Ave. and Serging Osmeña Jr. Blvd.; and from Cardinal Rosales Ave. to F. Cabahug St. and Hernan Cortes St. in Mandaue City.

These are similar to the routes he had proposed earlier for underpasses, but which the Regional Development Council (RDC) refrained from endorsing until a feasibility studies shows that these are viable solutions to Metro Cebu’s traffic problems.

“I keep an open mind on proposals, including those my own. Nothing, I said, is cast in stone. That’s why we have consultation like this,” Del Mar said.

He said that the tunnels, complemented by a Light Rail Transit or monorail aboveground, would be “practical and cost-efficient” solutions that would require no demolitions, no “annoying and hugely expensive right-of-way process” and would cause minimal disruption to traffic.

He again asked why the RDC “would like to go back to the feasibility study phase, ignoring that the Department of Public Works and Highways is already undertaking and spending for it.”

The congressman recently walked out of the RDC’s full council meeting for the first quarter, which highlighted some differences in opinion between private sector officials in the council and those in local government and national government agencies on how infrastructure projects should be selected.

“Given the long and tedious process for any big-ticket project to gestate, and given the competition of various communities for precious national funds, we should welcome opportunities for projects that will ease the traffic problem,” the congressman said.

He pointed out that a third Mandaue-Mactan Bridge, now being built as a public-private partnership, and an LRT, now being studied by a consortium that includes Chinese companies, were first proposed 25 years ago.