pedestrians are road users too.

Our driver made a comment yesterday that really bothered me:


"Our government sure love to spend millions for a jogging space," he said, reiterating what he heard on the radio earlier.


It was about the boardwalk (not to be confused with the Iloilo Boardwalk complex). The local radio station has been lambasting the local government about not opening that stretch of road to vehicular traffic.

Taking the safe side, I explained that that road is not really supposed to be used as any ordinary thoroughfare. That 2-lane space is in an easement that should not be opened to regular traffic, nor should it be used as an alternate route. AND, I still feel that if there's a way for us not to use easements to build our homes, our restaurants, our stores and our roads on, we should go ahead keeping it an open, free space. There is a reason for it's “non-use”.

Secondly, I don't really feel we need wider roads than the roads that we have now, nor do we need more roads within the city. Circumferential roads, yes, i agree to that because it will largely reduce the need to go through the city as much of our adjacent LGUs are not "safely" connected to each other. Safely, meaning, the roads that connect them are more often narrow dirt roads devoid of street lamps and other road safety devices. It;s even more dangerous during rainy season because pot holes could go as deep as the center of the earth.

Didn't anyone ever think of "regulation"? You know, where you regulate the number of cars on the road, or maximize the use of these cars. And i don't mean number coding because that has been proven ineffective for long term application. High occupancy vehicle. safe, comfortable, convenient and efficient public transportation. walkable blocks--o lazy people won't need to ride a jeep to get to the place they want to go, three small blocks away.

But the driver didn't buy it. He told me, "Why build a road in the first place--if you won’t open it to vehicular traffic?"

"Well, because that road is not a road for that kind of traffic. It's built so that the engineers can conveniently access the area for regular maintenance. It is not for people like you to use," I explained, keeping the last sentence to myself.

"Because you see,” he continued, “if it is opened, it won’t be subjected to heavy traffic because only private cars will use it. There's no franchise for public jeepney serving that route. It will certainly reduce the traffic congestion in the major roads." 

Says who?