Unsay inyong masulti ani nga one way na ang old bridge?
Board limits bridge traffic
A one-way traffic scheme will be implemented at certain hours on the old Mactan-Mandaue Bridge starting this Monday, according to the Mactan Cebu Bridge Management Board.
Starting Monday, Nov. 14, the bridge will be open only to vehicles bound for Mandaue City from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m.
Only vehicles heading to Lapu-Lapu City will be allowed to pass between 4 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.
The bridge will be open to two-way traffic at other times.
Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, who heads the bridge board, said this scheme will be implemented indefinitely.
Meanwhile, the Marcelo B. Fernan Bridge will remain open to two-way traffic.
The bridge board has noted the traffic congestion on the first Mactan-Mandaue bridge and it anticipated that the situation will get worse.
Four major events will take place in Cebu this month and in December—the Advertising Congress, the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, the Lapu-Lapu City Fiesta and the Queen City Run.
“We decided to implement the one-way scheme in light of the present situation and in anticipation of even more frenzied traffic activity because of these upcoming events. If you would notice, traffic is grinding to a crawl on that bridge,” Garcia said.
Among the board’s functions is setting up rules on the use and maintenance of the two bridges.
Officials of Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue cities have conducted studies and several meetings with the Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board, before the bridge board decided to implement the one-way traffic scheme.
A memorandum of agreement has been signed by the two local governments on the new system.
Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu will be putting up signs along the approaches of the bridge to inform the public about the change.
The board is still discussing further the plan to ban certain types of vehicles from the old Mactan-Mandaue bridge.
Garcia also said that surveillance cameras will be installed at the two bridges to curb the illegal posting of streamers and vandalism on the walls.
The cameras will be connected to the Provincial Capitol, which is serving as the Provincial and Regional Area Coordinating Center, with Senior Supt. Ronald Roderos as the executive officer.
“Those who will be expressing their creativity through graffiti will also have their expressive faces caught on camera,” Garcia said. (MBG)