THE Land Transportation Office (LTO) has proposed that the right sides of N. Bacalso Avenue and the South Coastal Road (SCR) be converted into motorcycle lanes to reduce road accidents.

In this connection, LTO 7 Director Victor Emmanuel Caindec urged Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Lloyd Dino to immediately call a meeting with concerned government agencies to approve his proposal.

Dino is the alter ego of President Rodrigo Duterte in the Visayas, while Caindec is the chairman of the Inter-Agency Council on Traffic (IACT) 7 created by the Department of Transportation (DOTr).

Caindec’s proposal, which has been submitted to Dino, was furnished to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Police Regional Office 7, Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group and Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

The DPWH owns the national highways, while the DILG has the jurisdiction over local government units (LGUs), which are now tasked to come up with their own Land Public Transport Route Plan in connection with the transport modernization program of the DOTr.

“We will make N. Bacalso Avenue a pilot area of this proposal because it is the longest road and the backbone of Cebu. This will give all motorcycles from 200CC and below a right of way to the rightmost lane,” Caindec said.

He said once his proposal is approved, the right sides of N. Bacalso and SCR will be marked “motorcycle lanes.” This will stop motorcycle riders from mixing with big vehicles in the middle of the road.

If this succeeds in Cebu, this will also be applied in Tagbilaran City in Bohol and Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental. (EOB)