ALL BUSES ALLOWED TO TRAVEL ALONG N. BACALSO HI-WAY AGAIN
THE commuters from southern Cebu will no longer take two separate trips just to get to Talisay City or to the areas in Pardo, Bulacao and Basak-Pardo in Cebu City.
Starting Wednesday morning Oct. 2, 2019, regular passenger buses and mini buses from southern Cebu have the freedom to choose which road to take to reach the Cebu South Bus Terminal (CSBT): either the Cebu South Coastal Road (CSCR) or the Natalio Bacalso South National Highway.
This happened after the city governments of Cebu and Talisay agreed to allow buses to use the national highway to get to the CSBT.
In the past 12 months, the buses had not been allowed to pass the Natalio Bacalso South National Highway. They were diverted to the CSCR due to the construction of the Mambaling underpass in Cebu City and the rehabilitation of the northbound lane of the Mananga Bridge in Talisay City.
The Mambaling underpass was opened last June, while the rehabilitation work at the Mananga Bridge was completed in September.
Officials of the Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO) and the City of Talisay Traffic Operation and Development Authority (CT-Toda) met on Tuesday night, Oct. 1. They decided to allow all types of passenger buses to pass through Talisay City, Bulacao-Pardo, Pardo and Basak-Pardo.
CT-Toda head Jonathan Tumulak said his team and CCTO officials agreed to allow the buses back at the highway as a way to decongest the CSCR in Talisay City. However, he clarified that they still allow buses to pass through the CSCR.
On the first day they reopened the highway back to buses, the traffic along the CSCR lessened as the big buses like those of Ceres Liner took the national highway, Tumulak said.
CT-Toda and CCTO agreed that full-capacity buses from the CSBT will be encouraged to pass through the CSCR through Barangay Mambaling.