Not the better solution

In proposing an alternative to the skywalks that people in Cebu City reportedly no longer use to cross major streets, Mayor Michael Rama said underpasses or underground pedestrian crossings would serve that purpose.

But some people disagree, among them Cebu City Councilor James Anthony Cuenco, chairman of the Commission of Transportation of the City Council, who said the time it takes to build the pedestrian underpasses will adversely affect traffic.

"It will take years to realize even one tunnel, not to mention how many tunnels are there? Ten? So mag build tag 10 tunnels? It's really very impractical," Cuenco said in a report in this newspaper.

That’s one reason against tunnels, but there are also others.

We don’t see it Rama’s way that all skywalks should be demolished; some do still serve their purpose. We also think pedestrian underpasses will be more impractical than a skywalk.

One reason is because of flooding. Whenever an area is flooded the water will settle at the lowest level it can find. And if a pedestrian underpass is built somewhere then that’s where it’s going. If we go by what we learned in the Mambaling underpass flooding in October 2020, it’s not so easy to clear a flooded lower area.

Of course, we can build underpasses in areas that aren’t prone to flooding. That would be ideal, but such places aren’t likely to be populated or busy enough to require an underpass. We want to build these underpasses in the busiest parts of the city where the most number of people can use them.

We also have to remember that as the climate gets more haywire, more and more areas in the city that were not flooded before are now seeing their share of inundation when the rainy season comes.

The second reason is the street dwellers. If their presence in skywalks was an issue for some of us, we don’t see this going away with pedestrian underpasses. In fact, an underpass will provide even more shade and protection from the elements than a skywalk.

Of course, street dwellers can be the least of our worries. A small, tight space like a pedestrian underpass can become a criminal’s haven.

An obvious solution is to post city personnel 24/7 to make sure people don’t stay there. However, the city wasn’t able to do this with the skywalks. It’s not likely they can do this with pedestrian underpasses either.

Unless and until we can be sure the areas where we want those pedestrian underpasses cannot be flooded or that street dwellers can be kept away, these aren’t the better solutions.