Bicycle lane proposal premature – Peñaredondo

ILOILO City – The Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) deferred action on the proposed resolution filed by Vice Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog establishing a bicycle lane on the Iloilo Boulevard, the road being constructed connecting the Carpenters Bridge in Molo district and Forbes Bridge in La Paz district.

Councilor Eduardo Peñaredondo said the proposal is premature because the Iloilo Boulevard is not yet finished.

Mabilog asked Mayor Jerry Treñas to have the new road utilized as a bicycle lane to decongest traffic on the main road from Molo to the City Proper.

Mabilog’s resolution is requesting for the chief executive to allot a portion of the road for the use of bicycles.

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is currently constructing the Iloilo Boulevard, a road network spanning the 2.9-kilometer riverbank of the Iloilo River. The construction is part of the flood control project.

In another development, the SP announced that DPWH acceded to the request of the city government to convert and upgrade some city streets into national roads.

Councilor Jose Espinosa III said the move shall lessen the budgetary burden of this city because the national government will take charge of road maintenance.

By DAVID ISRAEL SINAY