CEBU, Philippines – Major events lined up for January next year have prompted Lapu-Lapu City Mayor to lobby for the postponement of the scheduled repair works on the Mandaue-Mactan Bridge.
The Mandaue City government has supposedly given the green light for the Department of Public Works and Highways, through its contactor Jegma, to start the bridge repairs.
But the Lapu-Lapu City Traffic Management Systems is opposed to the idea of starting the project at this time, anticipating that it may affect the holding of the Sinulog Festival and the 51st International Eucharistic Congress in January next year.
As part of the IEC activities, Lapu-Lapu City will also play host to the Youth Congress on January 28 with an expected 5,000 attendees.
"Kon mahimo untang i-delay. Sobra man gud ka-langay and there are lots of events nga mahitabo nganhi sa Cebu," commented Mayor Paz Radaza on the scheduled 330-day bridge repair works.
She said she plans to meet with the DPWH officials this week to discuss issues that may cause the riding public to complain, especially on additional traffic congestions.
"(I hope) ma-discuss nako ang kana nga problem. Duna lang ta'y assurance nga makuha as to kanus-a mahuman, unsa'y (possibilities) nga maka-create og traffic, unsaon pag-agi sa mga sakyanan, mga diversions roads," Radaza said.
The repairs, which will cost P129.6 million, may have to lead motorists to use only one lane on the bridge so its expansion joints can be replaced, its steel reinforced, and its structure applied with anti-corrosive paint.
Part of the project is to remove damaged asphalt and to rehabilitate the access road to the bridge from the Mandaue City side.
But CTMS chief Frank Brazil suggested that fixing the bridge should be done only after the IEC.
"I-delay nila, unya after nalang sa IEC sugdan. Eleven months (ang pag-ayo), so almost mag-one year na. Duna pa man ta'y method of preparation," he said.
He earlier said Mandaue City should first attend to the ongoing rehabilitation of its Plaridel Street, a diversion road for Lapu-Lapu-bound commuters.
Brazil, however, said they have not discussed traffic concerns with their counterparts in Mandaue.
"Wala pa mi nag-meeting pero naa'y naka-set nga meeting sa Mactan-Cebu Bridge Management Board igka December 9," he said.
Meanwhile, the DPWH said in a recent report that it is waiting for the final traffic plan of both cities in order for the repair project to proceed.
The Mandaue-Mactan Bridge was supposed to undergo repair last August but the plan was stalled due to Cebu's hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference meetings from August 29 to September 8.
The repair was then rescheduled to November but it did not push through again due to the Lapu-Lapu City fiesta last November 19 to 20.
The bridge repairs, as well as the widening of its approaches, are part of DPWH's 11 proposed "High Standard Highway Networks in Cebu."
Other highway network projects are the extension of Cebu Coastal Road up to Liloan, construction of Cebu Hillside Road and its connector road and Cebu South Roads and Coastal Road, widening of Cebu North Road and construction of Cebu North Plaridel Road, widening of Cebu South Road from Naga to Carcar and construction of Cebu South Parallel Road, improvement of Mactan Circumferential Road, and construction of third bridge and its approaches. (FREEMAN)