SEVERAL big-ticket infrastructure projects that will help ease traffic congestion will start to be implemented in Cebu City this year, Mayor Tomas Osmeña said yesterday.
These will include the construction of an underpass on the Mambaling Access Road exit of the South Road Properties (SRP), to give commuters from the south quicker access to the city’s downtown areas.
If built, it will be the second underpass in the city, next to the one built at the entrance of the Cebu South Coastal Road.
Aside from that, Osmeña said 20 flyovers will also be built in different areas. He declined to say which streets these flyovers will be built on, since a detailed engineering design will still be done.
For now, Osmeña, said the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) 7 has been authorized to hire consultants who will prepare the detailed engineering design.
All these projects will be funded by the National Government, said the mayor.
When sought for comment, Marc Canton of the Movement for a Livable Cebu said that the group would like to know more about the projects, particularly the flyovers.
He cited a study done by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for the Metro Cebu Development and Coordinating Board, which recommended that before flyovers are built, government should undertake the structural analysis and improvement, and install an automated signal system.
Once the two are completed, Canton said, the government can proceed with the construction of flyovers and an underpass.
The mayor said he wants newly-appointed City Administrator Nigel Paul Villarete to concentrate on the flyovers and underpass projects, aside from the P10.6-billion Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project.
As to the BRT project, Osmeña said Villarete along with lawyer Rafael Christopher Yap are expected to fly to Manila soon to work on the other requirements for the project.
Yap, who is the acting department head of the Cebu City Transportation Office, will still be the project manager of the BRT project, while Villarete will work closely with him.
Right now, City Hall is working on downloading at least P1.3 billion for the mass transport project, which will be used to acquire road right-of-way lots.