CITY Councilor George Goking urged the Roads and Traffic Administration (RTA) to solve and create a new traffic plan along CM Recto Avenue as the opening of another commercial mall nears.
He said this city needs a skyway in the near term to solve the rising traffic woes.
Goking, chairman of the committee on trade and commerce said although he is worried for the possible tremendous vehicular traffic that the opening might cause, he added that the traffic situation in the said area has noticeably improved.
“We have always been expressive of our problem on the traffic situation, we have been prodding also the RTA to submit a comprehensive plan since last year. And karon, ma-notice nimo nga naay changes, for example, gikan ka sa Limketkai drive, paggawas nimo diha, no left turn na kana paingon sa Ayala. Ikaduha, naa may parking area ang SM, wala man siguroy maka-park na sakyanan diha,” he said.
“As of now, we do not see any problem. But for our long-term plan, a skyway is very ideal in that area, kay dili naman gyud ni siya madala ug overpass lang. We also envision that this area will become a business district so it’s time for the skyway to come in na gyud,” Goking added.
Goking assured that the city council will support and help in the planning, noting that the mall's opening not only benefits the city but will open doors for the Kagay-anons it will employ.
An executive of SM Mall also assured the public that traffic and flooding will not affect mall operations in the new SM CDO Premier Downtown which opens May this year.
Ivy Guantero, SM Public Relations Head in Cagayan de Oro said they have ongoing talks with the City Government, particularly RTA for the traffic plans especially during the opening week of the new mall where heavy crowd is expected.
“Ongoing ang meetings with the RTA and the City Government. Rest assured, ang traffic situation is among gina-address,” Guantero said.
Guantero, however, said that she cannot reveal the details of the plans.
“I have so much to tell but I can’t announce it yet, because we wanted to make it a surprise as much as possible. Didto na gyud mahibal-an sa opening na,” she said.
As for the flooding problem, the new SM mall is elevated from the ground to prevent rainwater from coming inside the mall while the mall’s 1,000-capacity parking area will start from its second floor.
The new mall also features a built-in rainwater catchment system which will benefit not only the mall, but also nearby establishments.
The rainwater catchment basin lies underneath the mall building measuring 3,000 square meters of total floor area and 6 meters deep which can hold up to 13,650 cubic meters of water or close to 13.7 million liters of water.
Also, its tank capacity is based in a 24-hour rainfall intensity of 45mm brought by Typhoon Ondoy last September 2009.
The catchment basin will only release the water it holds once it stops raining.
Although it is ideal for a business location, the CM Recto Avenue is one of the critical areas in flooding where rainwater can reach knee to waist-deep level. It is also one of the identified chokepoints or the most congested road in the city especially during rush hour.