|
Wednesday, April 02, 2003
Huge traffic snarl as Colon made 2-way
By Gingging A. Campaña
CEBU -- Hundreds of employees from the southern part of Cebu City reported late for work Tuesday as the City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) opened Colon St. to two-way traffic for the first time since 1998.
Almost all passengers, who lamented the lack of proper information dissemination, argued with the drivers, refused to pay their fares and ended up walking to their destinations.
They had to walk several meters because the new routes kept their usual jeepneys from passing by their workplaces.
"Naunsa man ang Citom? Gisayonan sila sa publiko (What was Citom thinking?)?" one passenger asked a driver while others cursed as they checked their watches and waited for vehicles on Panganiban St. to move.
Although Citom still has 30 days to test the two-way traffic on Colon St., Councilor Danilo Fernan said the agency should have prioritized fixing the traffic lights in various intersections affected by the rerouting.
"Traffic was terrible at south entry of Colon. Nakadaot nila kay wa usa nila ayuha ang mga traffic lights," he said. (The problem with them was they did not repair the traffic lights.)
One-way lights
A Citom staffer, who asked not to be named, admitted that they failed to activate all the sensors of the traffic lights for two-way traffic early Tuesday morning.
"What happened was the sensors were still on one-way traffic," the enforcer said.
Citom information officer Niño Quiñones said he sent press releases about the new scheme to two local dailies but not Sun.Star.
Most drivers complained that the rerouting scheme for Colon did not come out in Superbalita, a Cebuano tabloid and sister publication of Sun.Star Cebu, that most drivers buy every morning.
However, Quiñones said all radio stations were informed about the new routes.
As to the sensors, Quiñones said these were activated but to make them functional, the sensors have to be dug out from the road manually.
As a result, the two-way traffic scheme was implemented without the sensors functioning.
"We did not anticipate this would happen. Besides, we need more budget for the digging and re-asphalting," he told Sun.Star.
Heavy traffic
In an earlier interview, Citom Executive Director Dennis Jabonero admitted they underestimated the flow of traffic from the south entry to Colon, particularly along Panganiban and Leon Kilat Sts.
Besides, the traffic enforcers assigned in various intersections arrived "very late," he told Sun.Star.
Fernan said he wondered what happened to the P6.9-million budget the City Council approved for the purchase of new equipment for Citom's control room to upgrade the traffic lights system in 2001.
Councilor Procopio Fernandez, chairman of the committee on police, traffic, fire and penology, will bring up the matter during the Citom meeting Wednesday.
Some jeepney drivers plying the Labangon, Basak-San Nicolas, Lahug and Ayala routes complained about Citom's lack of information dissemination.
"The passengers got angry with us; they didn't pay their fares. We were also confused," a jeepney driver told Sun.Star in Cebuano.
"They just started implementing the new routes without informing us," said Allan, who only learned about the scheme Monday night.
New paths
Although the drivers had enough of the new scheme yesterday, they must follow the routes for fear of apprehension by traffic enforcers.
As they had anticipated, the drivers will face another scheme Wednesday because Jabonero pulled out six major routes from Colon St.
The 12-B jeepneys plying the Labangon-P. del Rosario via Sikatuna route will no longer pass by the Cebu Cathedral Church, Basilica del Sto. Niño and Cebu City Hall.
The 12-D jeepneys plying the Labangon-Colon via Junquera St. will no longer pass by the basilica, the cathedral and City Hall.
Also, 11-A jeepneys plying the Inayawan-Colon via Magallanes route will follow another scheme.
Citom is mandated to implement and study rerouting schemes on major roads in the city for only 30 days.
If it finds the scheme effective, it has to submit a report and recommend the passage of an ordinance backing the new assigned routes, said Fernan. Sun.Star Cebu |
|
|
|
 |
| click
to comment on this article or discuss it with other readers |
[return to top]
[home]
|
|
Police major nabbed in gambling den raid