If you’re planning on a road trip between Cagayan de Oro and Iligan, or if you have scheduled flights, you should depart early as the nightmarish traffic which affected motorists in February – March this year is back.
While the traffic in the first quarter of 2017 was due to the work on Igpit Bridge, this time, the traffic has affected several key sections along the national highway between the two cities due to simultaneous road repairs. The usual 2-hour trip from Iligan to CDO and vice-versa has increased to 3 hours on the average. It is quite heavy in the Opol-El Salvador City area where traffic converges.
Worse, the absence of traffic personnel particularly in the municipalities resulted to many vehicles counter-flowing in areas with some lanes closed due to the road works. Not only that, even with the presence of traffic enforcers, violators are not apprehended. Here’s a situation in Opol showing one motorist trying to ‘insert’ into the long line while a traffic enforcer watches helplessly.
Here, you can see three lanes occupied by vehicles going in one direction. Obviously, one lane is obstructing incoming traffic. Many had to cancel appointments and the economic impact is huge.
Due to the traffic, unpaved portions have been utilized.
The traffic actually is heavy even on a Sunday.
It goes on throughout the night…
Worse, there are accidents which aggravate the situation such as this slight collision between a truck and a bus.
The school year is starting in a couple of weeks. If this traffic goes on, not just students but everyone will be greatly affected.