A PORTION of Osmeña Blvd. has been temporarily closed on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, due to the danger posed by the ongoing removal of a skywalk near Fuente Osmeña Circle.
The closure spans from Arlington Pond St., near the CAP Art Gallery building, to Fuente Osmeña Circle. The implementation of the road closure and rerouting was unannounced, and it brought inconvenience to motorists on Thursday.
Kent Francesco Jongoy, legal officer of the Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO), said they closed a portion of Osmeña Blvd. to prevent people from getting hurt if debris fall from the skywalk.
“It’s very risky to keep passing through there, as there are parts of the skywalk that might collapse,” Jongoy said in Cebuano.
He said they were not supposed to close the road until next week, but they had to do it earlier to ensure safety of the public. He said this was the reason why the CCTO was not able to issue a public notice about the emergency road closure on Thursday.
The demolition of the two skywalks along Osmeña Blvd. to make way for the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project proceeded on Feb. 13 more than two months after being postponed. The City Government had given the green light to take down the two structures.
Rerouting
All motorists heading to downtown (Colon St.) from Osmeña Blvd. and B. Rodriguez St. must take F. Ramos St. For those going to Osmeña Blvd., they must turn right to Arlington Pond St. and turn left to Osmeña Blvd.
All motorists heading uptown (Capitol Site and B. Rodriguez St.) from Osmeña Blvd. must turn right to Arlington Pond St., then turn left to F. Ramos St., and turn left to Fuente Osmeña Circle.
Jongoy said the CCTO will meet with the BRT contractor on Friday, Feb. 16, to discuss the timeframe of the road closure.
Public inconvenience
Among those inconvenienced was Lynchie Gabales, 40, who is eight months pregnant. She had to take a different route in going to the Social Security Systems office in the downtown area.
“It was a trouble for a pregnant woman like me,” said Gabales, a resident of Bulacao, Cebu City.
Likewise, Denver Abao, a jeepney driver, who just resumed work, said proper notice could have prevented this inconvenience.
Skywalk removal for BRT
Christy Gadingan, Hunan Road and Bridge Construction Corp. representative, told SunStar Cebu on Thursday, that the Traffic Management Coordination Committee (TMCC) issued a resolution approving the removal of the two skywalks within one month.
The TMCC approved the request of the BRT contractor for the temporary and partial road closure of Fuente-Arlington and RR Landon-N. Bacalso.
The committee approved the request, provided the removal of the two skywalks would not be simultaneous, but cumulative to lessen traffic impact.
According to the resolution, partial road closure for Fuente-Arlington was scheduled starting from Feb. 5 to Feb. 20, while closure for RR Landon-N.Bacalso is from Feb. 21 to March 6.