“Green loop” intersections to stay open this Sunday

CEBU, Philippines - So as not to disrupt traffic flow, intersections along the “Green Loop” route in Cebu City will not be closed during the four-hour road sharing experiment on Sunday.

This was announced in a press briefing yesterday by Movement for Livable Cebu lead convenor Marc Canton, one of the organizers of the road scheme.

“No need to close intersections along the route because we will be following the traffic lights in order not to affect traffic flows,” he said.

Half of the lanes of thoroughfares Osmeña Boulevard, General Maxilom Avenue, Gorordo Avenue, and Escario Street will be utilized for the said experiment from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. this Sunday themed “Mag-angay ta sa dalan Bai!”

“The four roads were chosen as pilot areas because people and vehicles converge here. Also, with the historical landmarks, prevalence of tourism and economy; best area for our experiment,” Canton said.  

He said that pedestrians and bicycle riders will utilize one lane each, as provided under the scheme. He explained that the lane immediately beside the center island is designated to be occupied by vehicles while the outer lane, the one beside the sidewalk, is for bikes and people.

Landscape architect Socorro Atega said the green loop scheme is an “efficient” alternative and is beneficial to environment, economy, and social dimension of the campaign.

“While not more than five percent of the population have cars and motor vehicles, they are given more than 99 percent of the road space. In the process, we poison the very air that we breathe,” Atega said during a powerpoint presentation yesterday. 

“Those who have less in wheels must have more in road,” she said.

City Councilor Gerardo Carillo has promised that if the road experiment is proven to be advantageous, he would draft the necessary measure to institutionalize the “Green Loop” scheme. (FREEMAN)