Councilor Gealon: No total road closures

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu City Councilor and Traffic Management Coordination (TMC) head Rey Gealon yesterday assured that no total road closure would be implemented even when the road work involved is crucial to the fight against flooding in the city.

He said this after receiving requests for total road closure for infrastructure works in Vestil St., Barangay Mambaling; Panganiban St., Barangay Pahina Central, and the road in Busay leading to the Cebu Transcentral Highway.

Gealon, who just assumed as TMC head, said he does not want to burden people with traffic congestion.

He said the requests involve drainage projects and pipe laying by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD).

He said they only allowed partial road closure and that guidelines were crafted to prohibit further traffic congestion, before the start of project implementation.

“Atong makita nga dako kini og matabang sa siyudad labot sa problema sa baha ug sa tubig mao nga natugtan sila apan naay mga kondisyon nga nahukman namo,” Gealon said.

The "conditions" include the time for partial road closure, which "must only be between 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. and that no heavy equipment, vehicle or barrier must be impeding the traffic flow before or after the allowable period of work."

“Aron nga  way maka-impede sa traffic nga dayon-dayon lang ang dagan sa sakyanan anang maong mga orasa, ilabi na sa mga peak hours,” the councilor said.

He assured that DPWH and MCWD committed to strictly observe these conditions where it was laid out through a resolution.

Meanwhile, Gealon said that with the ongoing road works in relation to the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit project, he would file a resolution urging "all concerned punong barangays in the affected areas to require their barangay tanods to actively help in the monitoring and management of traffic within their respective jurisdiction, especially during peak hours." —/RHM (FREEMAN)