AN OFFICIAL from the Bridge Management Board told the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) not to “contribute” to traffic congestion, but instead help ease traffic even while doing repairs and concreting, especially in Mandaue City roads.
Mactan-Cebu Bridge Ma-nagement Board (MCBMB) Vice Chair Pericles Dakay told the board in yesterday’s meeting that road contractors should refrain from using the roads adjacent to the ones being worked on as staging area for their heavy equipment, citing the practice on A.S Fortuna in Mandaue City.
He said pre-cast road materials, such as manholes, must not be done on the road where they will be installed.
Dakay told a DPWH representative, a regular member of MCBMB, to order their contractors to do the concrete casting work in factories or vacant lots, as the name pre-cast implies.
He also told the DPWH to urge private contractors doing roadworks to use high-strength and rapid curing cement so road projects will be open to traffic after four days.
Dakay, chief executive officer of Dakay Construction, said contractors should also be conscientious of what motorists and commuters feel when caught by heavy traffic congestion.
Agencies
DPWH Engr. Ida de Guzman, a regular member of MCBMB, welcomed Dakay’s suggestion.
Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III, MCBMB chair, the board members from the cities of Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue, traffic officers, transportation agencies, land and sea authorities, private sectors were present yesterday.
He reminded members of their role, which is to manage traffic and security on the bridge.
He admitted that there is a need to widen roads and build more infrastructure to ease traffic and promised to help lobby for more national government support.
De Guzman announced during the meeting that, late this week or next week, they will replace Marcelo Fernan Bridge’s four rubber joints. She assured members this will not congest bridge traffic during the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference (Apec) meetings starting on Aug. 22 and the international triathlon on Aug. 2.
She said it will take them 30 days, or less, working separately on the four lanes of Marcelo Fernan Bridge, with seven days’ curing time.
While a lane is closed to replace joints, the other three lanes will be used for seven days.
Works
De Guzman assured that on Aug. 2, on the international triathlon day, they will suspend work.
She said replacement of rubber joints, which cost the government P30 million, will be done before the start of the Apec meetings.
Meanwhile, the bridge’s Traffic and Security Monitoring System (TSMS) reported that only 21 of the 40 closed-circuit TV camera on the bridge are on line.
Leo Bacus of TSMS said that of the 19 CCTV cameras, nine need repair while the other 10 cameras have connection problems. Five have no power and the other five have no network transmission.
Bacus assured that bidding to acquire nine new cameras and five paging systems is already underway. A loudspeaker system will also be set up to call the attention of motorists or pedestrians.
Provincial Treasurer Emmanuel Guial reported that as of May 31, 2015, the MCBMB has P11.607 million in the bank.