DAVAO City Transport and Traffic Management Office (CTTMO) head Dionisio Abude said the problem with road closure during major events in the city is the limited capacity of roads and highways to cater to vehicles.
Abude told reporters on Wednesday, December 26, that the capacity of the McArthur Highway is only 3,000 vehicles per hour.
Last Saturday, December 22, 2018, in celebration of the Pasko Fiesta’s Banda Dasig, the city experienced heavy traffic congestion that lasted for hours which prompted netizens to post their dismay on their social media accounts.
Abude said they have done their part in terms of information dissemination on road closures through the media and have given flyers to vehicle owners ahead of time.
“Kadtong nahitabo atong Banda Dasig, mu-admit gyud ko na grabe gyud ang na-experience na traffic na halos gridlock na ang intersection (I admit that what happened during the Banda Dasig was worse. We experienced almost gridlock in the intersections),” Abude said.
“Pero kung muingon ta na sa preparation nga gihimo, sa among side, na-comply gyud namo (But if we look at the preparation on our part, we have complied it),” he said.
He said they also noted that there were no vehicle owners who parked in Roxas, Bonifacio streets, among others, which means that they have received the information about temporary no-parking orders on these areas.
“Nganong ingon ato ang atong na-experience na traffic? Tungod kay sahi siya nga activity sa kasagaran nato ginahimo kay gabie man nato gipahigayon. Na-timing pa gyud nga natunong sa Pasko (Why we experienced such traffic is because it was a different activity since we held it at night unlike our usual events which are held at day-time. And this event was also held during Christmas (rush)),” he said.