DUMAGUETE City Councilor Alan Gel Cordova will propose to Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo a new traffic scheme for the city which will reduce traffic jams by more than half.
Cordova, chairman of the Committee on Traffic and Transportation, presented before the City Council the plan to revamp the entry and use of the city’s 32 major intersections to drastically reduce the conflict points from 685 to just 238, seen as a major factor to ease traffic congestion in the downtown area.
He defines a conflict point to be an area where the flow of a certain vehicle intrudes or invades the space that should have been taken by another vehicle, a media release from the City Public Information Office said Friday, January 27.
Cordova said by lessening the number of conflict points, the traffic flow would be faster.
The city councilor said formulating the new traffic scheme was guided by the general principle that narrow streets ought to be one-way while wide streets should be two-way and public street parking shall not be allowed in front of establishments with proper setbacks.
The most recent meeting of Cordova’s committee was attended by Councilors Michael Bandal, Karissa Tolentino, and Lilani Ramon along with officials of the Traffic Management Office Gilbert Ablong and Danilo Atillo, Engineer Edwin Quirit, Senior Inspector Robelito Mariano of the Provincial Highway Patrol Team, Rosemarie Gonzales of the City Planning Office, and representatives of the Department of Public Works and Highways led by Engineer Luz Vicoy.
Those consulted agreed at least 14 streets will be declared one-way to all types of vehicles, Silliman Avenue, Rizal Boulevard, Perdices, Sta. Catalina, Colon and Sta. Rosa streets will be two-way.
Since the proposed new traffic scheme will be subject to experiment in the next three weeks, an ordinance is not yet necessary.
If the traffic situation markedly improves under the new scheme, it shall be adopted through a legislative action.
Proper signage and wide information dissemination drive will be undertaken prior to the dry run to amply prepare the motorists.
Modifying the traffic scheme is just one of the many strategies the administration of Mayor Remollo has taken to ease traffic congestion amid the fact that the city’s streets are being used by some 660,000 vehicles all types in one day. (PNA)