Thursday, January 31, 2008 Editorials: Race against time in Banilad
SO the odd-even scheme in Banilad is now in limbo after Tuesday’s one hour experiment on the idea caused a “headache-inducing” traffic gridlock in the area?
To be fair to the City Traffic Operations Management (Citom), experiments are supposed to be like that, which is to expose the flaws of what in theory looks feasible.
In this case, the major problem was the capacity of the diversionary roads, which were lonely routes in the first place, to absorb the number of passing rerouted vehicles.
To think that the scheme, intended to reduce the number of private vehicles passing major Banilad roads, was tested for but an hour on a not so busy afternoon.
No quick fix
Which means that Citom will go back to the drawing boards that, in the kind of setup we have, means that supposed traffic experts will once again be making a noise.
There’s just one catch: the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will start work on the Banilad flyover—the reason for the traffic tests there—tomorrow.
One therefore gets the urge to lash at authorities for relaxing last year when the start of the construction was still months away and then rushing the preparation now.
Another traffic scheme that will be hatched will surely need another dry run, another checking for flaws and, in case of failure, going back to square one again.
Given Tuesday’s mess, this is a problem whose solution can’t be found quickly.
Caution
Going back to the drawing boards, therefore, should not only be Citom and city officials but also the others concerned, like DPWH officials eager to start flyover work.
As has been noted in a previous Sun.Star editorial, responsible officials should not create new problems by rushing up preparations just because flyover work will start.
Kinks in the traffic scheme that will be in place once DPWH sends equipment and workers to Banilad should first be ironed out or the alternative would surely be chaos.
That may mean more days of dry runs or postponing the start of flyover work.
If officials were to err on this one, they better err on the side of caution.
