Sunday, February 24, 2008 Estremera: Lessons in mindfulness By Stella A. Estremera Spider's web
IT'S a long-running never-ending discussion between me and my dive cum debate buddy Carlos: the layout of roads in Davao City.
Carlos being a driver and me as forever passenger, we have different outlooks on the roads that surround us in Davao City. Those roads that intersect at weird angles, merge without warnings and meet up again as one road after traversing another, and yet, no one's complaining. That is, no one is complaining loud enough.
One very good thing that was brought about by this multi-million traffic signalization project was that the end of the center island of Ecoland Drive was chopped off. This wide center island, complete with trees, once slanted nonchalantly to the left (if you're coming from Ecoland) that would give any unknowing driver coming in from Quimpo a big jolt as he will surely run over the edge of the island. But it was there for years, until it had to be snipped off for better traffic management. What with the lights now electronically saying stop and go and no more traffic aides to guide a clueless driver along, it just had to be snipped and let the drivers figure out how to play patintero on wheels instead.
This same road is very wide -- two lanes per direction or four lanes in all. For several years, this four-lane road suddenly becomes two lanes on just one side before the city finally cemented the other side just last year. Through the five years I have been living in that area, not one accident has occurred despite the fact that there was but one street light functioning and that light is way past the dark curve. Although there have been several scares complete with blinding headlights and blaring horns, there was not one crash and most interesting too, only one 'cross'.
Then there's the patintero on wheels that you play when exiting from R. Castillo to join the main traffic along J.P. Laurel Avenue in Lanang or when you're turning to R. Castillo from Lanang. Oh boy...
Another more intricate patintero is played at the junction of Bonifacio, Gen. Luna, Pelayo, and Camus Streets at the corner of Apo View Hotel. Which also baffles me because Camus Street is the one straddling the entrance side of People's Park and Apo View, how it twisted to become one street should be a pretty interesting history. And I bet you don't have any idea where Pelayo Street is and how it came to be where everyone thought was Legaspi Street.
Carlos' favorite, however, is Jacinto and Jacinto Extension. Hear him try to make heads and tails of this situation and share in his baffled state. Jacinto Street as we all know is the one behind Ateneo de Davao University college campus. It crosses R. Magsaysay Avenue and hits Ponciano Reyes Street. The extension, however, doesn't "extend" in any way. It skips, slants, and proceeds.
"And you call Crooked Road crooked?" he ranted. "What can be more crooked than Jacinto?"
I'm just glad Duterte Street is now called Duterte Street, otherwise Carlos would be ranting about how it can ever logically be called Malvar Extension when you have to cross Quirino Avenue and cruise a few meters along Mt. Apo Street before you turn left to reach Malvar Street.
And, have you seen that weird triangle right smack at the end of J.P. Cabaguio Avenue these days? Boy, my taxi driver had a scare of his life one night when he turned left from J.P. Laurel toward Cabaguio, only to realize that the road has been blocked and you have to cruise on further and make a tight almost u-turn to go to Cabaguio these days. Pretty, pretty queer arrangement. Very much like the way you have to turn right then clip left when you're coming down from Calinan at the Ulas junction on your way downtown.
Plus! That wide street, I think it's called Ecoland West (the one where the condominium is rising) that hits right smack a center island of Ecoland Drive. Hmmm...
And that's just a few of those interesting streets we have. There's also the D-shaped "rotunda" in that darn Apo-Mayon-Camus (again!) junction. Imagine... Apo View is Camus, Cosmopolitan is Camus, and People's Park is Camus. Now, try to make heads and tails of that.
Carlos insists the city was planned not by engineers but by toddlers with crayons. I insist that the city is actually a lesson in mindfulness. For how can you not be mindful of everything you're doing when suddenly a road island is blocking your way? There's a similar situation along that road that goes into SM City, maybe that's Ecoland East (the one we call Times Mart) and Ecoland Phase 1's 6th Street (the one with Delongtes at the kanto). People here just love driving up to a center island. Oh, wheee!
While we may disagree about the roads, we all agree that Davao with all its quirkiness is the best. Its queer roads and road network is but a reminder for everyone to sit up and pay attention; whether you're driving, on the passenger seat, just reminiscing, or talking about our hometown as we all Dabawenyos love talking about it. Oh, wheee!
