Run should continue to be fun

Egay Uy

LET me reun a portion of a previous column on runs probably ceasing to be fun because of the current traffic situation in the city.

The other year, in consultation with the Roads anrd Traffic Administration leadership, we came up with a policy that will guide the office in preparing endorsements or recommendations with respect to requests for special permits to conduct fun runs in city streets.

Road users should by now have noticed that the closure of even a small portion of some streets could cause congestion of vehicular traffic not only within the immediate peripheries of closed roads but all the way to a kilometer or so away.  In that previous column I rhetorically asked if runs are no longer fun.

Indeed the city streets have become narrower each day because of the increasing volume of users.  Cagayan de Oro may also be considered as the shopping capital of Region 10 that the influx of motor vehicles from nearby communities has also expanded what used to be peak or rush hours.

In several meetings with fun run proponents, I raised the concern about the effects of road closures and suggested that fun runs that can be staged outside of the main thoroughfares of the city be held away from the business districts.

For example, fun runs that otherwise would cause the closure of one lane of the highway may be best staged in the south diversion road.  With this, the use of that part of the road network of city roads may also be promoted and advertised.  The sponsors could put up platforms there that will serve as the stage when they do the awarding.

Relocating events away from major city thoroughfares and further regulating the closure of portions of city streets will avoid traffic build up in lateral and connecting city streets that are closed while the street events are going on.

This way, we continue to look forward to runs that will continue to be fun.