BRIDGE, MRT FOR CEBU
ENDORSED BY RDC 7
Meeting in Bohol, the Regional Development Council expresses support for 5 projects to fix traffic in Cebu, as well as the creation of a metro traffic council.
Projects to ease traffic in Metro Cebu and additional funds for the soon-to-open Bohol-Panglao International Airport gained the Regional Development Council’s (RDC) endorsement yesterday.
The council also agreed to support recommendations to create a Metro Cebu Traffic and Transportation Council and to ask the transportation department for guidelines on how such a council should work.
It was the Central Visayas RDC’s second full council meeting for the year and it took place in Bohol this time.
The endorsed priority projects are the Mandaue-Lapu-Lapu Link Bridge with Mandaue Scenic Coastal Road, Metro Cebu Cir- cumferential Road (Metro Cebu Ring Road), Urban Mass Rapid Transit (UMRT) Coastal Line, UMRT Central Line, and Area Traffic Control (ATC) System.
These five priority projects were identified in the Metro Cebu Urban Transport Master Plan Study (MCUTMPS) handled by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) along with the Philippine Department of Transportation (DOTr).
Metro Cebu traffic council
Under the MCUTMPS, the Jica team said, it would be wise for Metro Cebu to develop a combination of road and rail transport modes that will be in place by 2050.
No details were provided about the five projects, which will each go through a feasibility study upon the endorsement of the RDC-Central Visayas.
Projects endorsed by the full council will be included in the Regional Development Investment Plan for next year.
Apart from the five priority projects, RDC-Central Visayas also endorsed the creation of a Metro Cebu Traffic and Transportation Council (MCTTC).
The RDC also requested DOTr to study how that council operate.
In an interview, RDC-Central Visayas Co-Chairman Kenneth Coponpue said that initially, MCTTC will oversee all transport and traffic councils of all local government units (LGU) in Metro Cebu.
It will be similar to the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, which Congress created in 1994.
To initiate the traffic council, Cobonpue said, President Rodrigo Duterte will issue an executive order.
Cobonpue said he hopes Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña will support and cooperate with MCTTC since solving traffic concerns needs the participation of all local governments.
“This is for all of us. I hope he supports it,” Cobonpue said.
Glenn Anthony Soco, who chairs the Infrastructure Development Committee of the RDC 7, said the creation of MCTTMC is an offshoot of President Duterte’s statement in his latest visit to Cebu that he wants DOTr to take over the management of mass transport in Cebu.
The RDC also endorsed the P50-million Compostela wharf development and additional works for the Bohol-Panglao International Airport.
While additional work is underway, the Bohol-Panglao International Airport is expected to star operating in August.
Neither Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III nor Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña attended the RDC’s second full council meeting this year. Governor Davide sent a representative from the planning office. Also absent was Rep. Raul del Mar (Cebu City, north), who walked out of the RDC’s full council meeting last March 16 in Cebu, over differences in the selection of which infrastructure projects to endorse.