Here and There
Public highway system here distressing to balikbayans
By Gerry Garcia
THE state of our concrete or paved highways here in the province has not escaped the critical eye of my balikbayan friend whom I had invited to ride with me in my car for a tour of the countryside.
On the highway immediately leaving the San Carlos City – Binmaley boundary leading to Manat, I stopped the car a long, long row of rice grains laid out to dry on the entire half of the road waiting for a number of incoming cars and trikes to pass by. My friend, with amazed look on his face, just stared. He never thought such a preposterous thing would be allowed in our modern highway — using a public road as a multi-purpose project to include drying corn or rice grains on it. And the farmers have to gall to place nail-spiked boards around the drying grains to prevent them from being run over by outraged drivers.
So far the authorities have not lifted a finger to prevent commission of what is obviously illegal it happens all the time.
Once while travelling on a busy open road and incoming cars were zooming past us, we were trailing behind snail-paced motorized trikes on a dismaying crawl of 40 kms per hour.
Later on we had to stop the car again as the passenger bus ahead was letting passengers off. Road was too narrow and there were on-coming cars blocking our path we had to wait until the bus started to move again.
This was distressing to my balikbayan friend who has long been accustomed to the unhampered free flow of traffic on California’s broad and sweeping freeways.
That’s the problem. Our highways, supposedly designed for speeding cars, are still primitive, too narrow. Even the road shoulders, part of the main highway, are either unpaved or deliberately neglected by greedy, penny-pinching road contractors.
* * * *
Invasion of our highways today by an overwhelming number of motorcycles and even foot-powered trikes, should be valid reason for LTOs and allied agencies to not only widen our highways but also to take steps to rein in the sneaky, overspeeding 3-wheelers, like confining them to the outer lane of the road marked “Bike Lane Only”, as they do in America, says my visiting balikbayan friend . . . who is more Kano than Pinoy.
My friend was generous in his praises for the US having the world’s finest highway system, its broad paved highways running between, not through its principal cities.
At least here in Dagupan we will have a soon-to-be finished circumferential road around, not through the city proper.
It may not be perfect . . . but we are expecting our good Mayor friend Al, to help put the finishing touches. . . . and make Dagupan a more credible reason for another Balikbayan mission to California, USA next December.
(Readers may reach columnist at sundaypunch2@yahoo.com. For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/here-and-there/ For reactions to this column, click “Send MESSAGES, OPINIONS, COMMENTS” on default page.)
Share your Comments or Reactions
Powered by Facebook Comments
