DAVAO City will not implement major road closures during the duration of the Pasko Fiesta next month, said Leonardo Pamplona Jr. of the City Transport and Traffic Management Office (CTTMO) on Friday, November 25.
Select areas will be closed to traffic during major events of Pasko Fiesta. This includes closure of San Pedro Square for the battle of the bands event on December 18, said Pamplona, activating division head of the Traffic Enforcement and Street Management Division of CTTMO.
The road closure on December 18 will include the streets of San Pedro, C. M. Recto, Pelayo, Anda, and Bolton. However, Gabriel said they will wait for the approval of the city council for the road closure.
“We cannot close the road unless we already have the city ordinance directing us to close roads for the major activity,” he said during the Kapihan sa PIA media forum.
On the other hand, the CTTMO said different public transport programs from the city government, Office of the Vice President, and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board continue to augment services during peak travel hours in Davao City.
This includes the “libreng sakay” from the OVP while the LFRB grant permits to select bus companies to allow them to ply during peak hours to cater to stranded people.
Despite the noticeable lack of public transportation units during peak hours, Gabriel said there is no talks yet for the implementation of a number color coding scheme for vehicles in Davao City.
He said the traffic situation in the city is still manageable and problems only arise during peak hours.
“Even though makita nato sa kadalanan na duna gyod mga problema sa trapiko pero mahitabo gyod an siya during peak hours. Dili nato na malikayan (traffic problems only happens during peak hours, which we cannot avoid),” Gabriel said. ICM