Tuesday, July 31, 2007 Editorials: Time to resolve Ban-Tal traffic
MUCH has been said about the traffic problem in the BaniladTalamban area, especially with the push to implement a flyover project there.
The airing of views is not necessarily bad considering the magnitude of the problem and its complicated nature.
Aside from the traffic mess being used by Cebu City Hall to scuttle Capitol’s Ciudad project, efforts to solve it through the construction of the flyover has also sparked a controversy considering the opposition to it by some sectors.
This, in turn, begs the question on why the spirited opposition was only raised when the project is about to be implemented.
Urban plan
A more important point, though, is the one about foresight or the lack of it, of City Hall planners who failed either to map out the direction of the growth in the area or to strictly implement strictly an urban plan —that is if it one is already in place.
There would not have been any debate on whether the flyover project in the area is important or is an anomaly as far as a rational traffic plan is concerned.
But those views are only good as a learning experience now considering that the traffic mess is there and funding for the flyover has already been approved.
Study
One can even consider the current verbal exchange in a positive light by noting that without it, City Hall and other concerned government agencies would not have been forced to look deeply into the problem and the action already taken.
The opposition by some businessmen in the Banilad-Talamban area to the flyover project, for example, has resulted in the conduct of a comprehensive study on the traffic situation there and the presentation of possible solutions.
Synthesis
But there is no need for the debate to drag on without City Hall and other concerned government agencies synthesizing the various proposals and moving onwards.
There are enough studies and views for concerned government officials to work on already, with the one needing immediate decision being the fate of the flyover project.
The talk is largely over and, considering the inconvenience and other troubles the traffic mess has set off, the matter should now be resolved speedily and firmly.
