Friday, March 14, 2008 Traffic 'to worsen when construction heads north'
CONSTRUCTION of the P87-million flyover in Banilad is on schedule and no delay is anticipated, the contractor said.
WTG Construction Project Engineer Christopher Semille warned, though, that when the construction moves north, traffic will get heavier and motorists will have to bear with more obstructions.
One month after the construction started, Semille told the Cebu City Council that the flyover will be completed by July.
“As of the moment, we are on schedule,” he told the council last Wednesday, adding that they are now working on the footings of the flyover.
Semille said the ongoing construction work is confined to the junction on A.S. Fortuna St. going south, which is the reason there is not much traffic in the area yet.
But when the construction moves to the other side of A.S. Fortuna St. going north, traffic will get worse.
City Councilor Sylvan Jakosalem said traffic near the construction site is not as heavy as everyone expected because only the two inner lanes were closed.
Also, the Banilad Town Center side of the A.S. Fortuna-Foodland Complex intersection is already flared.
But once construction in the Talamban-side of the flyover starts, traffic would be heavier because the intersection there is not flared and the four-lane road is not as wide as the Banilad side.
“There will be more obstruction because the road is smaller; it’s a tight four-lane road. In the Banilad side, the traffic is not as heavy yet because the intersection is flared and the road is set back by one lane when you reach BTC,” he explained.
Construction of the 390-meter flyover started last Feb. 1 and is supposed to be finished in six months. The contracted period for building the flyover is 300 days or 10 months.
The Department of Public Works and Highways earlier said that the contractor is within the schedule and could meet the six-month deadline, even though the contracted period is 300 days. (LCR)
