THE Traffic Enforcement Agency of Mandaue (Team) started rerouting public utility jeepneys (PUJs) from northern Cebu going to Mandaue City yesterday.
Glenn Antigua, chief for operations of Team, said they are doing this to decongest traffic on A. C. Cortes Ave., particularly in the area near Emcor, where jeepneys linger to pick up passengers.
This is also part of making the city center a pedestrian-friendly area and also to prevent jeepneys from cutting trips.
In the past, jeepneys bound for the city core and Parkmall passed under the Maguikay flyover to A. C. Cortes Ave. and turn right to P. Burgos St.
Team personnel directed these jeepneys, just like PUJs from Consolacion and Liloan, to pass the Maguikay flyover, M. C. Briones St., turn right to L. Jayme St. going to JCentre Mall, then to A. S. Fortuna St. and turn right to A. del Rosario going to City Hall and Parkmall.
“This was already implemented early last year. It was re-implemented because the drainage and road-concreting project in Sitio Marfa in Barangay Bakilid, which is located near L. Jayme St., is finished,” Antigua said in Cebuano.
He said they are also implementing the original routing scheme for jeepneys from the north based on the city’s existing traffic ordinance.
For Cebu City-bound jeepneys, they can proceed to M.C. Briones going to Barangay Subangdaku without passing L. Jayme St.
“This is also part of Mandaue’s plan to make the city core a pedestrian-friendly zone. The City will open the newly renovated park in front of City Hall that is why we limited the number of PUJs that pass near the City Hall,” Antigua said in Cebuano.
This way, Antigua said, passengers will only have one area where they can wait for northbound jeepneys. It is located in front of Gaisano Grand Mall, in Barangay Centro.