By Froilan Gallardo
Special Correspondent
COVID-19 has caused a shift to biking for workers going to work prompting authorities here to create a lane for bikers.
Benedicto Ramiro, City’s Roads, and Traffic Administration (RTA) administrative officer said the pilot project extended from Rodelsa Circle to Velez Street in front of the Vicente de Lara Park.
“That is a total of two kilometers along the city’s busiest street,” Ramiro said.
Ramiro said the temporary bike lanes are carved from both sides of Velez Street.
He said another bike lane was carved out along Vamenta Boulevard in Barangay Carmen. The two lanes along Velez Street and Vamenta run parallel to each other.
“The carving of more biking lanes was just halted because the Department of Public Works and Highways in Region 10 have yet to complete their projects on the proposed streets,” Ramiro said.
Ramiro said eventually bike lanes would extend from Barangay Pagatpat to Barangay Carmen in the city’s 1st district for a total of 39 kilometers.
In the city’s 2nd District, Ramiro said the bike lane will start at the Cagayan de Oro port area in Barangay Macabalan and wind up all the way to Barangay Macasanding for a total of 38 kilometers.
He said several proposed bike lanes are planned to link Barangay Bugo to Barangay Bonbon using the city coastal road system.
Ramiro said Cagayan de Oro like other urban centers in the country is embracing bicycles in their urban planning.
He said their data showed that 29 percent of the 110,000 labor force in the city have resorted to biking to their places of work.
“Many workers think biking is the safest way to go to work rather than commuting where you are prone to Covid-19 infections,” Ramiro said.
He said aside from workers who bike to their work, many residents have turned to cycling for recreation and a healthy lifestyle.
Ramiro said the rise of cyclists prompted the city government to plan for more bike lanes in the city in the next five years.
“Cagayan de Oro is reshaping our urban infrastructure by building safe bicycle lanes and parking lots that can sustain a healthier environment,” Ramiro said.
The new bike lanes in the city drew mixed reactions from cyclists and workers who bike to work.
Kristian Dave Achondo, a graphic designer for a local newspaper Mindanao Gold Star Daily, said he started biking to work when the Covid-19 pandemic started in April 2020.
“I found biking to work very convenient and it is safer than commuting in public utility vehicles,” the 31-year old graphic designer said.
Achondo said it takes only 30 minutes to weave through the traffic to his place of work in Barangay Lapasan from his house in Barangay Macasandig, a distance of eight kilometers.
He said going through the designated bike lanes along Velez Street is a different story, however.
Achondo said cycling in the biking leans is like driving through a maze of parked vehicles and rude jeepney drivers.
“Vehicles parked everywhere along the designated lanes and jeepney drivers are rude enough that they would pull to a stop to pick a passenger,” Achondo said.
The Roads and Traffic Administration are implementing a strict no-parking policy along the bike lanes.
Achondo however said drivers flagrantly violated the no-parking policy despite the presence of RTA personnel enforcers.
“Parking is clearly illegal but they are constantly violated every day,” he said.
These sentiments are shared by riders, Loyd Russel Sapida and Jaser Pamalan, who work for a well-known food delivery company here.
Sapida said he would be extra careful when cycling in these biking lanes.
“Vehicles would suddenly pull to a stop or you find a parked car blocking the lanes. You will figure in a traffic accident if you are not careful,” the 19-year-old working student said.
Pamalan said he already figured in an accident after a car bumped him on the rear of his bicycle while negotiating on the bike lanes.
“The driver told me he did not see me when he suddenly pulled to a stop. Luckily I had only a few scratches,” Pamalan, a father of two children said.
Despite the dangers of cycling around the city, Pamalan said he continued on delivering food because the earnings are good enough to feed his wife and children.
Pamalan said the RTA should conduct more traffic seminars for the drivers to respect the bikers.
He said the RTA should put up more bike lane markers; install delineators to separate the bike lanes from the traffic, and put visible traffic signs.
“Drivers here are so rude against bikers like us. They think they are the kings of the road,” Pamalan said.
Teejay Gallardo, a local entrepreneur, also bike to his store every day ever since Covid-19 infections swelled in the city.
Gallardo said he brings extra clothes when he biked for four kilometers to his shop in the downtown area from his house in Barangay Kauswagan this city.
He said once he reach his shop, he would change into his new clothes and park his bike in a small parking area he and other bikers rented for space.
Gallardo said the entire routine is convenient for him because he no longer rides on jeepneys full of passengers.
“These days we have to be extra careful. The virus is still out there,” Gallardo said.
Like other bikers, Gallardo is also careful when cycling the streets especially the portion when he had to bike through a national highway.
He said on several occasions, he found himself sandwiched between two big trucks at the intersections.
As more people here embraced cycling, enthusiasts find Cagayan de Oro and the neighboring provinces offer some of the best riders in the country.
Lory Gacusan, a housewife said there might be no city in the country where one can enjoy their morning coffee and get out to enjoy the rides.
“There is no rush here. I can be on the bike trails in 20 minutes from my house,” she said.
Gacusan said the city has a lot to offer for cycling enthusiasts like the Mapawa and Camanava ranges which have mountain trails to satisfy the adventurous riders.
She and her husband took on cycling as recreation when the pandemic started last year.
Gacusan said they are now engaging on longer loops like the Talakag, Lantapan, Malaybalay city to Cagayan de Oro — a distance of 175 kilometers.
“It’s a very exciting ride and a challenge for women riders,” she said.
Gacusan said they are now planning to bike all the way to General Santos City on the southern tip of Mindanao and back to Cagayan de Oro.
(This story is part of this year’s Mobility Awards, organized by the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC), The Climate Reality Project Philippines, MNL Moves, 350.org Pilipinas, and the Pinay Bike Commute, in collaboration with the League of Cities Philippines and 27 regional partners across the country)
