" Odd-even: So far, so good "
Motorists barely complained as
most vehicles stayed off the streets between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. Monday during the
first day of the dry run of the odd-even scheme along Governor Cuenco Avenue in
Cebu City.
“Except for the need to augment
our personnel and the need for more traffic signages, so far so good ang atong
dry run. We were surprised that there were fewer private vehicles and even
jeepneys,” he told Cebu Daily News.
But he said it was too early to
conclude that the traffic scheme was effective in easing traffic along the
Banilad Road.
Citom will hold another
hour-long dry run Tuesday, also from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.
If results are similar to
Monday’s smooth flow, Citom will stretch the dry run to last from 6 a.m. to 10
p.m. on Wednesday.
“We will also be asking
barangay officials in the area to help monitor the dry run so they could help us
make an assessment,” Tancinco said.
At exactly 2 p.m. Monday, Citom
closed two inner lanes of Governor Cuenco Avenue from the Mahiga Bridge to
Foodland, where the first stage of the flyover construction will be implemented.
They did not touch the other
side of the road near Gullas College of Medicine.
While the dry run was going on,
affected businessmen, residents and school operators were at the Cebu City
session hall airing their views about the flyover project and traffic rerouting
during the four-month construction period.
Affected residents asked for
more traffic enforcers to be posted near subdivision while Rolling Hills
Memorial Chapel sought exemption for its funeral cars from the odd-even car
plate scheme.
Zosimo Lim of the Cebu Bankers
Club asked Citom to allow at least 10 armored cars to enter the Banilad Road to
ensure a steady supply of cash in ATM outlets in the area during the dry run.
A resident of El Dorado
Subdivision said that since they live near the construction site, they should
also be exempted from the odd-even scheme.
Tancinco said the requests
would be taken up in the Citom board meeting but he could not promise they would
be granted.
He said Citom could not grant
exemptions to subdivision residents.
The only exemptions from the
odd-even scheme are emergency vehicles like ambulances, fire trucks and police
cars, government owned vehicles, duly marked public utility vehicles, school
buses and motorcycles.
Engineer Nicomedes Leonor, head
of the Cebu City engineering district, said the flyover construction will start
on February 1 as scheduled.
Phase 1 will require the
closure of the road from Mahiga Creek to Foodland. In Phase 2, the road closure
will extend to Doņa Rita Subdivision.
“Even the court cannot stop the
project. We are only asking for the help of the city government in manning
traffic in the area,” said Leonor.
He said any more delays may
increase the project’s cost.
Construction was supposed to
start in November 2007 but was moved to February 1, 2008 on the request of the
project proponent, Cebu City Representative Raul del Mar.
“The prices of materials
increase constantly. If we don’t start the project on February 1, the contractor
has the right to demand an increase in the construction cost,” he said.
The Governor Cuenco Avenue
leads to northern Cebu City barangays (villages) like Talamban and Pit-os where
many subdivisions and schools are located. Several schools and universities are
also located along the Banilad Road.
To reduce the volume of
vehicles, Citom will impose an odd-even scheme based on plate numbers of private
vehicles and calendar dates.
On dates ending in zero or even
numbers like 2, 4, 6, 8, only vehicles whose plates have last digits ending in
an even number can enter the Governor Cuenco Avenue.
On dates ending in 1, 3, 5, 7,
9, only cars with plate numbers whose last digit is also odd can go on the road.
For dates that have two digits
(10 to 31), the last digit will apply.
The new scheme is being tested
in Cebu City for the first time.
The dry run partly aimed to
test the readiness of enforcers. On Monday, traffic enforcers stationed near
Paradise Village allowed vehicles with plates ending in an even number to
proceed to the Mahiga Bridge.
Vehicles with odd-numbered
plates were directed towards J. Panis Street. But since the Cebu Memorial Park (Cempark)
management did not allow the use of its interior roads for the dry run, vehicles
were told to turn left to Mahiga Bridge and then to Governor Cuenco Avenue near
the construction site.
A field report by Inspector
Michael Angelo Beltran said there was “moving traffic” from Mahiga Creek to
Foodland during the dry run. “Moving traffic” means there were close to 100
vehicles on both sides of the 200-meter stretch, said Tancinco.
Beltran cited the need to field
more traffic personnel and install extra signages to guide the motorists.
Taking his cue from the report,
Tancinco said he would reinforce the 42 field personnel deployed on Monday to
man traffic and patrol the vicinity of the diversion roads: F. Cabahug Street,
H. Cortes Avenue, A. S. Fortuna Street and ML Quezon Road in Mandaue City.
He said more traffic signs
would be put up at least 200 meters apart in the detour areas.
“We need to add more traffic
signs so that it will have a brainwashing effect. Normally, it takes seven
seconds for the brain to absorb a traffic sign that you see for the first time,”
he said.
Tancinco said enforcers from
the Traffic Enforcement Team of Mandaue (TEAM) were found at detour roads as
early as 1 p.m. Their role was limited to manually operating the traffic lights
at the intersections.
“We had to see asa dapit taas
ang concentration sa traffic so we can adjust the traffic light,” he said.
“Everything we are doing now is
based on observation. We do not want to use advanced technical methods in making
an observations because we do not have enough data about the number of vehicles
with odd and even plates,” he said.
During the public hearing,
Banilad barangay Captain Malou Tabar said Citom should give out leaflets to
guide road users where to pass.
She said a public consultation
should have been called before the dry run.
Tancinco said road users will
have to stick to Citom's traffic adjustments due to the lack of alternative
routes in Cebu City. This is why the diversion roads are found in Mandaue City.
Source: [ globalnation ]
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