THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT of Zamboanga is nearing completion of its public transportation plan to sufficiently and effectively address local traffic problems and modernize public transportation here.
The draft on the Local Public Transport Route Plan (LPTRP) would be submitted to the Department of Transportation (DoTr) which ordered local government s in the country to come up with a plan that will modernize local public transportation. Once approved by the DoTr, the LPTRP will then be submitted to the City Council.
The draft is a product of months of collection, analysis and consolidation of transport data, as well as a series of public consultations and a transport summit jointly conducted by the LPTRP Technical Working Group and the Department of Civil Engineering of the Western Mindanao State University’s College of Engineering and Technology.
Mayor Beng Climaco and other local government officials and lawmakers said road widening and opening of new roads are important to decongest vehicular traffic in Zamboanga.
Climaco said opening new roads and widening the streets, especially in downtown areas and adjacent barangays, are needed to decongest the worsening traffic problems due to the growing numbers of motorists here.
The controversial flyover which was being pushed by then Congressman Celso Lobregat and the Department of Public Works and Highways had been opposed by Climaco and other members of the City Council. “We need to widen the roads first because it is very urgent for us for the passage of people in order to decongest traffic. We leave it (flyover project) to the City Engineer’s Office, Dr. (Elmeir) Apolinario (of the Zamboanga City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office) and DPWH to look at finishing the bypass road so this will also ease traffic and provide alternative route,” Climaco said.
Climaco said there is a need for a feasibility study for future overpass bridge. “We are pro-development and nowadays, even our traffic management needs to come up with a plan or study to assess the impact before and after the project is implemented, and so we also need feasibility studies of flyover project in the future,” she said.
Congressman Cesar Jimenez said he will work closely with the DPWH and other concerned government agencies with regards to the road projects and other alternative routes here to solve the pestering traffic problems.
The flyover project became so controversial after Lobregat – who ran for mayor and defeated in the midterm polls – insisted that the overpass bridge must be constructed immediately despite the failure of DPWH to comply with the requirements set by the local government.
DPWH also had insisted in the past for the construction of the project even without the necessary road widening.
Climaco has repeatedly said in public that the local government is supporting the implementation of national infrastructure here, including the proposed flyover project, but reiterated that there is a dire need to first widen the roads affected by the construction of the overpass.
The overpass project would cost about P600 million and is expected to be completed in at least 500 days or more considering how slow the DPWH in their public works. Last December, the DPWH conducted a traffic dry run in areas affected by the flyover project to mimic construction works, but it only drew angry reactions from motorists and commuters as well because of the chaotic situation it created even for just a week. (Zamboanga Post)
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