CEBU CITY -- A vehicular accident on the Banilad-Talamban flyover last Saturday night where three people were injured highlighted flaws of its design, an official said.
Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) Chairman Sylvan “Jack” Jakosalem said it supported the position that the safety of motorists and pedestrians is compromised because of ill-designed flyovers.
His reaction came after an SUV smashed head-on into a wall of the flyover in Barangay Banilad, Cebu City at 10 p.m. Saturday.
The victims were identified as Mary Ann Mendoza, 34, Jesus Montellano, 62, and Honorio Cumbre, 62.
“They didn’t see the reflectors,” said Jakosalem, adding that the victims came from Montebello Hotel when the accident happened.
Personnel from Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation (ERUF) immediately attended to the victims, who were transferred to the North General Hospital and declared safe.
“This only goes to show that flyovers are accident-prone,” Jakosalem said.
He added, however, that Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Cebu City Director Nicomedes Leonor will order reflectors placed there as soon as possible, after the accident was brought to his attention.
“He said the reflectors could have faded since these were only stickers. But what we want is that it will be monitored and replaced regularly, or they could choose the plastic ones para dili gyud matangtang (so these won’t be easily removed),” Jakosalem said.
Some accidents on flyovers aren’t reported because these happen late at night or early in the morning, the Citom chief said.
At the height of the proposed construction of two flyovers in Cebu City, the Citom Board released a resolution stating that they are not against flyovers, as a whole, but only against projects that are not well-rationalized.
According to the two-page resolution, the traffic study concerning the proposed M.J Cuenco-General Maxilom Ave. flyover and Archbishop Reyes-Gorordo Ave. flyover failed to consider the traffic impact on adjacent intersections.
The projects will not ease traffic congestion in those areas, the resolution said.
“The proposed flyovers will not only be extremely inefficient compared to their cost but will also be the wrong solution to the wrong problem,” the paper stated.
The DPWH recently suspended the two flyover projects, until objections from Citom and other stakeholders are resolved.
“Whether we like it or not, some residents do not want these flyovers,” Jakosalem
said.
