Cebu bike lanes board to test out bike lanes

THE Sugbo Bike Lanes Board (SBLB) said it is scheduled to bike through the bike lanes in Cebu City on Saturday, June 5, 2021, to check the practicability of the bike lanes it established along with the national government.

Gerry Carillo, SBLB chairman, said the construction of the Cebu City bike lanes is now at about 80 percent and is expected to be completed by the end of July.

However, several netizens have complained about the bike lane at Fuente Osmeña where motorized vehicles can also be seen passing through the supposedly dedicated bike lane.

Jane, not her real name, posted on Facebook that the new dedicated bike lane at Fuente Osmeña, along with the existing problem on parking space in the area, just brings “chaos and poses risks” to both cyclists and drivers of these vehicles.

The netizen said roundabouts should be “free from obstructions like parking zones.”

Sought for comment, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) 7 Director Edgar Tabacon said they will immediately seek the advice of the Cebu City Traffic Management Office on this concern.

“We need to seek the advice from the Traffic Management on what will be their recommendation so we can implement it,” Tabacon told SunStar Cebu in a text message.

Carillo said what was agreed by the SBLB is to have the bike lane on the outermost lane of the Fuente Osmeña circle.

“These parking areas along the Fuente Osmeña circle have been there ever since. These belong to a private ownership. So what we have agreed with the board is to have the bike lane on the outermost lane of the Fuente Osmeña circle,” he said.

He also explained why the bike lane is not continuous in the area.

He said bikers will not be crossing the Fuente Osmeña circle. Rather, they will have to find and utilize the nearest pedestrian lane to go to the next bike lane.

He said for instance, a biker coming from B. Rodriguez St. who plans to go to Gen. Maxilom Ave. will have to get off his bike and walk along with the other pedestrians on the nearest pedestrian lane until he reaches the nearest bike lane for his route.

He also clarified that other vehicles may, in fact, utilize the bike lane if the bike lane is on narrow roads like in Sawang-Calero. These, he said, are called shared roads (Sharo) for cyclists and other motorists.

However, he said other vehicles are not allowed to use the dedicated bike lanes on wide roads or if bollards are in place on these bike lanes such as on V. Rama Ave.

The bike lane in Cebu City, he said, is two meters wide.

He said aside from establishing bike lanes, they also submitted a plan for the City to have bike patrollers.

These bike patrollers will act as augmentation force for the Cebu City Transportation Office personnel in helping man and maintain the bike lanes.

Carillo acknowledged that some portions of the dedicated bike lane had been used as car parking space.

“People need to be educated. They need to be informed that these are bike lanes which they should not obstruct,” he said.

He also encouraged bikers to make use of the bike lanes themselves.

He said they initially plan to deploy 60 bike patrollers from barangay tanods to volunteers from associations and fraternities.

He said the ongoing training for bike patrollers includes training on enforcing travel rules and regulations and proper guidelines when biking such as the use of appropriate gadgets for bikers like gloves and safety brakes, among others.

He said they will be deploying these bike patrollers as long as the supplemental budget they had proposed for the bike patrollers’ honorarium will be approved by the City. (WBS)