Wanted: A consultation meeting with DPWH
When I interviewed my good friend Mr. Allan Alfon about the up and coming Cebu Cordova Link Expressway Corp. that will soon construct the third bridge over the Mactan Channel and link the South Road Properties to the town of Cordova eight kilometers away, he already mentioned that the possible name for this bridge will be the Sto. Niño Bridge.
After this bridge is done, at night the two main anchors of the cable-stayed bridge will be lighted to form two crosses. Now isn't this great to know that this bridge may be finished in time for the 500th anniversary of the Christianization of the Philippines? So the suggestion of my good friend, Malacañang Liaison Adelino Sitoy, might just come true. Like I said, the best thing about the construction of this bridge is that it doesn't disturb traffic while construction is going on.
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During a meeting with the Infrastructure Development Committee of the Regional Development Council-7 my good friend Titus Borromeo of the Office of the PresidentialAssistant for the Visayas questioned the Department of Public Works and Highways for lining up several underpass projects without first consulting the public. In fairness to DPWH, they did consult the public but only on certain particular projects, like the overpass that would cross Gorordo Avenue from F. Sotto Drive, which was shot down during the term of former mayor Mike Rama.
But the rest of the public is clueless for instance on what the DPWH plans to do for the road beside the Iglesia ni Cristo that was supposed to be widened but somehow forgotten. Now we learned from Titus that there is a planned underpass that DPWH plans to pursue from D. Jakosalem St. to cross to Mango Ave. This is a project that I would like to see for myself.
What is also new to me is the proposed eight-kilometer "underpass" that DPWH is proposing from D. Jakosalem to Talamban. Come now, there must be a mistake in calling this project an underpass, an eight-kilometer stretch would already be a tunnel. So this is quite confusing to the public. Hence I would like to suggest to Mr. Glenn Soco, Chairman of the IDC, to hold a public consultation on all the infrastructure projects being planned for Cebu City. I gathered that DPWH plans to construct a depressed structure along the busy M.J. Cuenco Avenue corner Gen. Maxilom Avenue, something that I have always believed was our priority when we were in the RDC.
We gathered that another depressed structure is planned along Gorordo Avenue and Doña Modesta Gaisano Street. This is the traffic-heavy road that leads to Beverly Hills. Actually, we can alleviate the problem if PROBE under Raquel Arce would get those businesses away from the walls of the bridge. In short, there should be no stores allowed to operate on both ends of the bridge so Gorordo Avenue traffic won't get congested.
Mind you, during our stint in CITOM, we planned to change the triangle along the corner of JY Square and turn it into a small roundabout. In France, a run-about is quite common. It is a small Fuente Osmeña type of circle that we used to have along corner Osmeña Boulevard and P. del Rosario Street. Unfortunately; during the time of the late Sammy Darza he had that roundabout removed in favor of the new Sydney Coordinated Automated Traffic System. In the end, the traffic signals caused traffic congestion.
I dare say that Cebu City Transportation Office should study a roundabout system for JY Square because it eliminates the need for a traffic signal and vehicles from Gorordo Avenue wishing to enter Beverly Hill just need to drive 200 yards into the roundabout and turn around without disturbing traffic. We've got good people in CCTO like Mrs. Rose Dosdos who can help CCTO Chairman Isko Ouano conduct a study on how this project can be implemented with the help of the DPWH, after all Gorordo Avenue and Salinas Drive are national roads.
I'm willing to volunteer to join the meetings either of CCTO on this project, and if invited, I too can help Mr. Glenn Soco of IDC to look into the plans or proposals of the DPWH for Cebu City.