Bill creating Mandaue City 'Tri-Level Interchange' refiled

Mandaue City Lone District Rep. Emmarie OuanoDizon refiled the bill that is seen to resolve the traffic chokepoint along M.C. Briones Street corner U.N. Avenue in the city.

Dubbed as the “Tri-Level Interchange,” this infrastructure would at least help ease traffic situation in the area, according to Ouano-Dizon, which is why she refiled this bill.

The proposed measure, House Bill No. 9886, or “An Act providing for the construction of a tri-level interchange along M..C. Briones Street corner U.N. Avenue, Mandaue City, Province of Cebu and appropriating funds therefor” already passed on third and final reading in the House of Representatives last Congress but was not approved by the Senate for lack of time upon congressional adjournment.

In her explanatory note of the bill, Ouano-Dizon cited that according to initial results of a study conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the unresolved traffic congestion in Metro Cebu has resulted in at least a billion pesos in economic losses a day.

“Cebu continues to suffer from the worsening traffic problem, and road congestion has been identified as one of the major problems in the bustling metropolis. According to a study, at least a hundred and thirty-two million pesos worth of man-hours was wasted daily due to traffic congestion,” Ouano-Dizon stated.

This problem, she said, is apparent in the area along M.C. Briones Street and United Nations Avenue (U.N. Avenue) in Mandaue City.

U.N. Avenue is a major thoroughfare which connects to the Marcelo Fernan Bridge, the second bridge linking the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) and the City of Lapu-Lapu and the Municipality of Cordova.

“This part of Mandaue City has some of the worst traffic in Metro Cebu and is a traffic chokepoint as this is a major connecting point not only to the Mactan Island but also to the North and South of Cebu,” she said.

Ouano-Dizon added that the usual commute that normally takes ten to fifteen minutes within the city now stretches up to an hour or more and that the existing road infrastructure simply cannot cope with the growing number of vehicles.

She further said with the expansion of the Mactan Cebu International Airport and the expected resurgence of tourism industry, coupled with the traffic volume towards this area, these factors all lead to the imperative need for this tri-level interchange to alleviate the monstrous traffic congestion that has affected all sectors of society.

As for the budget necessary to defray the cost of construction of this project and other activities related thereto shall be included in the General Appropriations Act (GAA).

“Thereafter, the DPWH Secretary shall include in the Department’s program the completion of construction of said project, the funding of which shall be included in the GAA of the year following the approval of this Act,” part of the proposed measure reads. —