Cebu City is continuing its traffic light modernization project, even though there are payment issues and legal concerns with the first two phases. The city government has set aside a P240 million budget for the third phase in the proposed 2025 budget.
THE PROJECT STATUS SO FAR
Phase 1:
- Covered 18 intersections
- Cost: P232 million
- 90% of the cost has already been paid.
Phase 2:
- Covers 27 intersections
- Cost: P248 million
- 15% payment made so far, but the phase is not finished yet.
Phase 3:
- Will cover 40 intersections with modern digital traffic lights.
- Also includes AI-powered cameras to manage traffic better and underground cables for durability
- Approval is still pending from the city’s Traffic Management Coordination Committee (TMCC).
There will be four phases in total, and Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia plans to complete them.
While Cebu City is pushing forward with modernizing its traffic lights, they are still dealing with unfinished payments, legal issues, and technical problems. The city wants to ensure that the system meets its needs before paying the suppliers in full.
WHY IS SO EXPENSIVE?
Why invest a large sum of money like P240 million for traffic lights? Are traffic lights really that surprisingly expensive?
When you take in account all that is hidden behind them, including:
- The controller
- The wiring or radio communication to the central
- The traffic central control equipment
- The people maintaining them
- The people counting cars to adjust the cycles
- The officers used to backup when they fail
- The equipment to allow safe crossing of emergency vehicles
- The design and optimization of the network cycles
- The traffic lights themselves and their sensors (which most people do not see)
Putting up traffic lights is more complicated than just attaching signal lights to poles. It involves several important steps to ensure everything works smoothly and safely. Like planning and preparation. Engineers need to carefully plan the placements of the lights based on traffic patterns.
A typical traffic light installation can cost anywhere from P10 to P25 million per intersection, depending on complexity. Cost is usually relative, considering what is involved in components and installation, they are not actually surprisingly expensive at all—maybe for the transportation committee. They’re expensive because it requires careful planning, underground wiring, expert labor, and compliance with safety standards.
