TO KEEP motorists safe, a gap being used as a U-turn slot in front of a mall along the Cebu South Coastal Road (CSCR) was closed after several accidents occurred in the area.
Social media users clamored for the closure of the gap following the latest vehicular accident there on Thursday, May 25, 2023.
The Cebu City Traffic Management Coordination Committee (TMC-Com) directed the Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO) to close the small opening of the center island across Il Corso mall through Resolution 37-098-2023.
The resolution prohibits all crossing maneuvers until traffic lights can be installed in the area.
The TMC-Com admitted that the opening posed a danger to motorists and other road users.
Lawyer Kent Francesco Jongoy, TMC-Com secretary, pointed out, though, that the opening was not designed to be used as a U-turn slot, but as access to the El Pardo Road.
Jongoy said motorists who used it as a U-turn slot were committing a traffic violation, but took advantage of the fact that there were no traffic enforcers assigned there.
He said they didn’t deploy a traffic enforcer in the area because it is not considered an intersection, but they plan to deploy personnel along the CSCR to arrest traffic violators.
According to Jongoy, the area is prone to accidents because it is not designed for maneuvers, and is therefore not safe to be used as a U-turn slot.
Jongoy said the small opening had to be closed since any vehicular accident in any part of the CSCR immediately causes congestion.
In the resolution, the committee said at least one accident occurs in the CSCR each day, and most of the accidents involve two-wheeled vehicles.
At the Talisay City side of the CSCR, Jonathan Tumulak, head of the City of Talisay-Traffic Operations and Development Authority, said they recorded 629 accidents in the first quarter of 2023 of which 40 percent involved motorcycles. (AML)