Cebu province to open alternative roads

CEBU CITY - The Greenway Link Project, which aims to provide alternative routes to the main arterial roads in the entire Cebu Island, was finally presented to the public at the provincial capitol.

More importantly, the Greenway Link, a project of Governor Hilario Davide III, can be a passage to interior parts of Cebu in times of typhoons or calamities. Relief goods can be delivered to the affected areas easily through these alternate roads.

"Only a few percentage of linear kilometers is needed for new road openings in order to connect the towns to this Greenway Link Project," said Provincial Engineer Hector Jamora who made the presentation recently.

The routes are mostly existing local roads in the different municipalities that need to be improved in accordance to the desired concept of a complete street with wellpaved carriage way, wide lanes for both pedestrians and bikers and streetlights during night time.

Another positive outcome of this project is that it will decongest traffic going to the municipalities, enhance accessibility for local tourism, and pilot a complete street that will promote the "Green Growth" program in every towns and cities initiated by the provincial government.

The project had been proposed to the provincial government after a study was conducted by the Metro Cebu Development Culminating Board.

"The important assumption of this project is that it has accessible fund sources from the national government, availability of heavy equipment for road opening, and support from the public and private sectors in the locality," Jamora said.

The start of the project and its budget will be announced by the governor.

According to COMELEC spokesman James Jimenez, the poll body came up with the initiative through Minute Resolution No. 17-0503, in a bid to minimize probabilities of voter errors.

"The purpose is to ensure that proper instructions to voters are given in major dialects, so as to minimize errors in filling out the ballots," he said.