THE Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO) warned the public of heavier traffic on N. Bacalso Ave., Cebu City in the next three to four months starting on Wednesday, Oct. 11.
A portion of the road in front of McDonalds will be closed to traffic as work on the next phase of the P683-million underpass project starts.
Engr. Roy dela Cruz, project engineer of the Department of Public Works and Highways 7, said they will meet the contractor and CCTO on Wednesday to discuss the works on the southbound lane.
“Once the plans are finalized, we will immediately start the work in the following week, or on Oct. 11,” he told SunStar Cebu.
In the meantime, dela Cruz said they will clear the outermost lane in front of Shopwise of debris to provide motorists an access. Work has been going on the northbound lane since Aug. 8.
Dela Cruz said they willl transfer to the southbound lane so that they can lay out the foundations on both sides before drilling the roads for the underpass.
With this, CCTO operations head Francisco Ouano said bottleneck in the area may occur in the first few days of the implementation of the diversion route.
“Although the situation at present is normal, there are times when traffic flow becomes heavy in the area, especially during the morning rush. What makes it still manageable, though, is that there is no road diversion. It’s the same route for both sides, only that we have allocated one lane on the southbound portion for those heading north,” he said.
“What happens when the road in front of McDonalds will be closed is that all southbound vehicles will have to pass through pocket roads. A lot of people are residing in the south, so increase in vehicular volume is a given, especially around 6 p.m., and it would take quite a while to reach your destination if you’re passing through an interior road, instead of the main thoroughfare. As expected, traffic will definitely be heavier,” he added.
Southbound motorists are advised to take the pocket roads on Caimito St., Ma. Gochan St., Ganciang St. and Katipunan St., then take a turn to F. Llamas St., then to their destination.
“If you don’t really have important things to do in the area, please refrain from going there. We also ask for the public’s understanding. After all, once the project is finished, traffic will hopefully improve,” Ouano said.
Motorists heading to Talisay City may take Tagunol St.
Dela Cruz said he will ask the project’s contractor to closely monitor and continue the repair works in Tagunol to make traffic flow in the area smoother.
He said the road continues to be of poor condition due to bad weather because the area is flood-prone.
Dela Cruz, however, assured that the inconvenience will not take too long since the underpass project is ahead of schedule.
“We’re confident that we can finish it on time. We’d just like to ask for the public to extend us a little patience and understanding,” dela Cruz said. (RTF)