Recent news surrounding plans to cut down the trees along Bacolod City’s Narra Avenue has drawn the ire of local residents, including environmentalists. The basis for the move stems from a proposal to remove the road’s center island as a means of easing traffic. However, some claim there is no congestion along that stretch of road and by cutting down trees, which brings cleaner air to the city, it would only be detrimental to safety and health.
The vehicular traffic along that road is not heavy and cutting down trees will only encourage drivers to “counterflow.”
Whoever in government is proposing this idea should think twice.
Asphalting the road is what is needed.
City officials should not be advised by those who are thinking correctly. Hopefully, these ideas are not coming from traffic authorities who seem so fond of road experiments that ultimately end in failure.
Roads that also need asphalting include Galo Street, near Kmart; Luzuriaga Street in the downtown area; Henares Street, by the Paglaum Sports Complex; among other areas.
Meanwhile, Bacolod City residents need to hear what the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) recommended for the city.
The city government will likely form a team to evaluate and enforce the proposals but, the truth is, one can only understand the problem if they have lived in the area over the course of several years—not 15 days.
Road management needs to be implemented, not just a traffic system.
Did the MMDA recommend a road safety management system?

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This column greets Rodel Parcon, Sammy Montoyo, Danny Dangcalan, Monet Rojas, Toti Ramos, Melque Benedicto, Phil Abello, Sunder Nandwani, JBMapa, Manu Gidwani, and Richard Oquendo./WDJ