Espinoza: Useless speed guns

THE town of Consolacion, Cebu could have a better use of its precious funds in other projects than buying the speed guns that will be used to monitor overspeeding trucks, buses, cars and probably including motorcycles used as habal-habal or motorcycles-for-hire whose drivers crisscross the road, unmindful of other people’s safety.

The intention has a noble purpose, but it’s futile to use speed guns on the roads when the speed of the motor vehicles is crawling, if not stopping most of the time because of the heavy traffic caused by so many factors.

The Municipal Council of Consolacion passed a resolution that would limit the speed of motor vehicles to 20 and 30 kph in the town’s roads. To enforce this ordinance that is still subject to a review by the Cebu Provincial Board, the municipal council also passed a resolution appropriating funds to buy the speed guns.

Consolacion is traversed by the Central Nautical Highway that links to the northern towns of Cebu. The other national road that is still undergoing widening, which also traverses Consolacion is the Cebu North Coastal Road that connects to Paknaan, Mandaue City through the Cansaga Bay Bridge.

With the critical traffic situation on the highway at the center of Consolacion during peak hours and even on Saturdays, the speed guns would be of no use. What the town needs is a solution on how to speed up (not slow down) the traffic along the Central Nautical Highway and the Cebu North Coastal Road.

I’m sure Mayor Nene Alegado, a good friend, has a traffic consultant who could have advised her on the appropriate solution to the daily traffic woes on the highway that crosses the town proper. As unsolicited advice, Mayor Alegado could use the budget for the speed guns for the proper training of her traffic enforcers as well as the purchase of the traffic signage that comply with international standards for traffic signs.

In all my trips to Danao City and back home, passing by Consolacion is a nightmare. The traffic situation has turned from bad to worse. It’s like all hours are peak hours and there is no solution in sight to the problem. And from what I have observed, the traffic enforcers only direct motorists and pedestrians, but do not apprehend violators.

The common traffic violations are illegal parking and non-observance of the “NO LOADING, UNLOADING” and “NO STOPPING” signs by most if not all PUJ drivers. I could be wrong, but perhaps the drivers don’t respect the traffic signage because they do not comply with the international traffic standard signs. Worse, pedestrians cross anytime anywhere.

I would assume that all motorists with a driver’s license duly issued by the Land Transportation Office know that parking on the highway is prohibited. But in Consolacion, all types of motor vehicles are parked on the side of the highway, and yet they are not apprehended.

The big traffic generators along the highway in Consolacion are the business establishments. Foremost among them are the two shopping malls that are along the road where the entrance and exit for motor vehicles are uncontrolled. Motorists go in and out of the mall anywhere, causing a traffic gridlock on the highway.

The highway is wide enough because it has six lanes. However, the highway is underutilized because of the illegally parked motor vehicles. Before the municipal officials would think of widening the highway, which is next to impossible because of existing establishments, they should first clear the highway of the illegally parked motor vehicles without exception.

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