The Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO) has abandoned plans to widen one of the city's most congested roads, the Banilad-Talamban corridor, in favor of creating designated pocket lanes for public utility jeepneys (PUJs) and a dedicated motorcycle lane.
No road widening along Banilad-Talamban
CCTO head Raquel Arce clarified that no road widening project is planned along the stretch from Banilad to the Talamban Gymnasium. She said Mayor Nestor Archival recently conducted a walk-through in Talamban, but the road widening project is limited to Miñoza Road leading to Pit-os, where a road concreting project is underway.
Instead, the City is adopting a traffic management strategy that will establish pocket lanes, or lay-bys, where PUJs can load and unload passengers without blocking the main travel lanes.
Pocket lanes to replace widening
Arce said the proposal came from studies conducted by the CCTO Planning Section after the office determined that acquiring additional property for road widening had become too costly. "It seems acquiring land for road widening has become too expensive. So instead, we'll just make use of what we already have," she said in Cebuano.
Under the proposal, designated pull-over areas will be created from Banilad to the Talamban Gymnasium, allowing jeepneys to stop outside the main carriageway. The CCTO is coordinating with private establishments to secure permission to use portions of their frontage for the proposed pocket lanes.
Arce said the arrangement could also benefit businesses because commuters waiting for public transportation may patronize nearby establishments. "So while passengers are waiting, they can also buy from the establishments," she said.
At present, the CCTO has identified several possible locations, although Arce said the list remains limited pending approval from property owners. The office has identified three potential pocket lanes along the northbound lane and another three to four locations on the southbound lane, subject to final agreements with private establishments.
Motorcycle lane proposal
Aside from the pocket lanes, the City is pushing for the implementation of a motorcycle lane along the Banilad-Talamban corridor. Arce said the dedicated lane will use the outermost lane in each direction; however, she clarified that the lane will not be exclusive to motorcycles. Slow-moving vehicles may still use the lane when necessary, while motorcycles will be required to remain within the designated lane except when preparing to make left turns.
She said the proposal seeks to reduce the unpredictable weaving of motorcycles between vehicles, which has long been identified as one of the causes of congestion and traffic conflicts along the corridor. "One of the causes of traffic is that motorcycles suddenly squeeze into any available space. If they are disciplined to stay within one lane, traffic movement will become more orderly," Arce said.
Studies support scheme
Arce also dismissed concerns that converting the outermost lane into a motorcycle lane would worsen congestion, saying studies conducted before the proposal showed that organizing motorcycles into a designated lane would improve traffic flow rather than reduce road capacity. Emergency vehicles such as ambulances will still be allowed to use any available lane, including the motorcycle lane when necessary.
The CCTO has begun preparatory work for the project. Arce said the City has coordinated with the contractor responsible for road markings and traffic signs, with painting activities expected to begin next week. The implementation timeline, she said, is expected to coincide with Mayor Archival's first 100-day priority programs.
While the City continues road widening along Miñoza Road toward Pit-os, Arce said the Banilad-Talamban corridor will rely on traffic engineering measures, including pocket lanes, motorcycle lane delineation, and stricter loading and unloading management to address one of Cebu City's most persistent traffic bottlenecks.
