Concerns authorities should consider

There's really no problem with the plan of the Cebu City government to allow public utility jeepneys to pass through the Cebu South Coastal Road at the South Road Properties. However, there are several things that it should consider once it pushes through with the idea.

When PUJs from the south start to use the CSCR, no one knows whether they are allowed to load and unload passengers when plying the route. There have been no designated areas for unloading and loading along the route because government does not allow public utility vehicles to use it in the first place.

Of course, the local governments of Cebu City and Talisay City, which share the CSCR, should start to identify loading and unloading areas for PUJ passengers along the stretch of the coastal road. A terminal is also needed in the Cebu City side for southbound passengers to converge.

Another concern is the lack of lights along the section of CSCR at the SRP that poses risk to motorists, especially with the huge volume of vehicles passing through the areas with the addition of PUJs. The Cebu City government needs to immediately address this matter to prevent accidents now that we are expecting more vehicles to use the road.

Several complaints have already been raised about the lack of streetlights along CSCR that is largely to blame for some accidents at night. Therefore, the need to install more lights along the road is more urgent now that more vehicles are using it.

And authorities should also intensify monitoring along the CSCR as it opens to PUJs from the south. Many PUJ drivers have become notorious for their habit of outrunning each other in their bid to pick up more passengers. Now with the wide road that they are going to ply, the whole section of the CSCR could be easily turned into an open racetrack for speeding PUJ drivers.

Considering some concerns that authorities should consider when PUJs start to pass through CSCR in the coming days, we hope that they already have outlined some safety measures to deal with the surging number of vehicles.