Cebu’s worsening traffic condition

Some might argue it would be pointless discussing the inevitable. But it would be worse if we don’t. At the very least ideas may be floated around which might --just might-- prod those in authority to take the right direction. Of course, I am talking about Metro Cebu’s worsening traffic congestion. Particularly in Cebu City since it is where it usually starts and propagates to the rest. And it’s starting now.

Let’s just pound in the reality that traffic congestion is not a one-time issue that you solve and voila! It disappears forever. Rather, it is a never-ending saga. As the population grows, car ownership grows, and whatever road space we prepare will sooner or later be filled up. Unless we truly shift to public mass transportation, we’d always cyclically play this cat-and-mouse game of buying-cars-building-road space syndrome. Until we run out of space.

Cebu City’s particular problem is that it is the center of the metropolis. By itself it already produces more of the trips per day, and then we add all the trips produced in the south passing through going to the north and to Mactan Island and vice-versa. Which is the reason why there is a need for a metro-wide analysis and problem-solving in terms of traffic, especially with the opening of CCLEX. When the Lapu-Lapu Expressway opens in a year or two, the already-congested Cebu South Coastal Road (CSCR) would be stretched to the limits. I don’t mind --I already bike half of the time. But woe to those who are helplessly dependent on their cars for transport.

The current sporadic gridlock in many links nowadays is contributed to some extent by the inability of local traffic managers to distinguish between pass-through and local traffic; expressways and feeder or city roads, accentuated by the introduction of intersections and traffic lights on highways not designed for such. Added to that is the use of a traffic light system which are supposedly adaptive but clearly are not, with counters which do not reflect the traffic on the ground.

For years, Cebu City boasted of the best traffic light system in the world, the SCATS, or Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Traffic System, until the manufacturer stopped making spare parts and upgrades. We’re now stuck with a “new” one, which does not coordinate at all, runs by itself, and doesn’t even have a control system to speak of if my inside information is right. And which is not paid up yet.

For us in Cebu City, we just have to endure. Well, not just us but the rest of Metro Cebu. CSCR is supposedly the expressway from the Talisay to the north, until they transformed it into a local road. Together with CCLEX, the two also served as the main fast lane to Mactan Island and back, again until intersections were inserted. And the key link to watch is F. Vestil Street. Wait until the development on the other side of the road is completed --that’s a monstrous gridlock waiting to happen.

Which doesn’t need to happen. We just need to move vehicles as fast as possible and understand the hierarchy of traffic flow in the network.