On the darkness of F. Cabahug Street
A number of accidents near our home poised upon me the task of writing about the dire situation in Villa Aurora Subdivision, specifically along F. Cabahug Street, in Barangay Kasambagan, Cebu City. The occurrences of these accidents have become frequent, there must be some factors, yet unobserved, causing them. But, precisely because featuring our place in this column is akin to a self-serving press release, I hesitated, in the midst of what could otherwise be considered a public issue. Call it delicadeza or however one might justify it, really, I held my pen because I was confronted by the thought that I could not use my space to advance a seeming personal interest.
I cannot turn a blind eye anymore. Res gestae is pushing me to reevaluate my earlier position. When I stepped out of our gate, the other night, to usher in some friends who came for a noble purpose, I was startled enough to say impolite words upon realizing that a portion of F. Cabahug Street, particularly the one separating our residence and an international hotel could be given the ignominious label of being the darkest spot in the city. If this would sound exaggerated, believe me I am trying to state a cold fact. That could be the main factor why there had been cases of vehicular accidents and reports of various crimes taking place.
Let us first consider the situation. Many years ago, this road ended not far from our abode. Naturally, the vehicles that ran on it were only those owned by our three neighbors.
At its dead-end, there was an electric post on which was hung a mercury vapor lamp with huge wattage. During nighttime, it illumined the neighborhood kids playing, my boys, Averell and Byron, included. Another source of nocturnal light was the other electric post at the street corner. These two posts were about sixty meters distant from each other and the light they shed was bright enough for us. Today, these posts stand and they are still lit but . . .
Somehow, authorities found a way to connect Mandaue City and Cebu City thru our place. In the early 90s, F. Cabahug Street no longer ended at Villa Aurora Subdivision. It became the access to the Cebu Business Park of Ayala from the north corridor. Then a beautiful hotel was built across our home and then we lost the former tranquility of the place.
The volume of vehicles using this road is big. Considering how traffic literally drags almost to a crawl every day, at present times, we can conclude that the road itself is incapable of comfortably handling them. Converse to the explosion of the number of vehicles plying our area is upsurge of thousands of people coming in and out of our place.
But, the city has not improved the lighting of this place. It is dark. The trees that have grown big these years prevent the lampposts from shedding light unto the street. For instance, anyone standing on the sidewalk right across the hotel is virtually invisible to motorists from both Ayala and Mandaue directions. So, if he intends to cross to the hotel, he exposes himself to a great risk.
It is true that the hotel at our front uses many forms of lights to show its majesty. These are however, adopted to light up its façade more than to secure the safety of pedestrians. I observe that instead of these light sources helping the traffic, they have probably become the source of distraction. These gadgets did not prevent the recent collision of a car and a motorcycle coming from opposite directions, or of a pedestrian being hit by a motorcycle, or the smash-up of three motor vehicles, or of a pedestrian being robbed by two men riding a motorcycle in tandem, and so forth and so on.
I suggest that our city authorities (Hello Hon. Mayor Michael Rama!) take a close look into the conditions of this stretch of F. Cabahug Street before more serious accidents happen. I am sure that lighting this place is a beginning step in the right direction.
‘I suggest that our city authorities (Hello Hon. Mayor Michael Rama!) take a close look into the conditions of this stretch of F. Cabahug Street…’