DUE to bad weather, the opening of the side roads on a depressed portion of N. Bacalso Ave., Cebu City has been moved to a later date.

The side roads of the underpass project was supposed to open to vehicular traffic on Saturday, Nov. 24.

But because of the rains brought by tropical depression Samuel, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) 7 has decided to move the opening date to Monday, Nov. 26.

Cebu City Transportation Office operations chief Franciso Ouano confirmed the development in a phone interview Friday, Nov. 23.

“Na-delatar gyud sila, naapektohan gyud sila atong uwan. But ning-promise sila (DPWH) na inig Monday, ma-agian gyud. Magsugod kadlawn sa Monday, passable na (It was delayed; it was really affected by the rains. But DPWH promised that it will be opened on Monday. It will start dawn on Monday; it will already be passable,” he said.

The opening of the side roads, Ouano said, is expected to alleviate the traffic situation in streets surrounding the depressed portion.

Trucks and buses, though, are still banned from taking the main thoroughfare and will still have to ply the Cebu South Coastal Road in the meantime.

The underpass project, which started in August 2017, is now 81 percent complete. The target completion date is on May 28, 2019.

At present, the contractor is working on phases 5 and 6, which will cover the excavation, drainage lines, boring and concreting of the underpass’ lanes on both sides.

Earlier, DPWH project engineer Roy de la Cruz said an P18 million road widening project is expected to follow as soon as its contract will be approved.

A contractor already won the bidding but a rebidding has been called because of certain technical deficiencies, de la Cruz said. He hopes the rebidding will be scheduled this month. RTF