FOUR-WHEEL and other large vehicles have been banned from entering the unfinished Metro Cebu Expressway project in Naga City, southern Cebu due to safety concerns arising from a landslide caused by frequent rainfall in the last two weeks of October.
Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia issued Executive Order (EO) 25 on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023, restricting the entry and exit of vehicles on the expressway until further notice.
However, the governor permits motorcycles to use the road from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. during favorable weather conditions; they are prohibited from passing through it in inclement weather, Capitol’s media arm, Sugbo News, reported.
The landslide caused cracks and fissures on a portion of Phase 3A of the expressway project in Barangays Inayagan and Cantao-an, posing a danger not only to the motorists but also to nearby residents.
Prior to the issuance of EO 25, Garcia and Naga City Mayor Valdemar Chiong had met with the officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) 7 to discuss the assessment on the condition of the road.
Funding
The governor asked the DPWH 7 to provide funding for the affected residents along the expressway, with the latter committing to give P100,000 per affected family.
Garcia also raised her concerns about the engineering aspect of the project, particularly questioning the accuracy of the soil quality test in determining the soil’s integrity for the infrastructure.
She said there might have been a mistake in the test that the DPWH 7 had conducted on the location.
The governor then tasked the Provincial Engineering team to identify an alternative route for the affected lanes of the expressway.
The expressway project extends from the City of Naga to the mountainous slopes of Minglanilla, Talisay City, Cebu City, Mandaue City, Consolacion, Liloan, Compostela and Danao City, covering a distance of more than 70 kilometers.