I know there is a lot of distance between the screens that we're not seeing, yet look at these two pics (I haven't resized the field maps)
The first just seems to fit together better imo.
Plus, as mentioned, the player needs to have entered Gongaga and messed around a bit for the Barret scene to play, which only does so on gonjun1.
Also, with my proposed arrangement, the player gets a build up feel to the reactor. First they'll enter Gongaga and see the reactor with Cloud's remark, then they'll talk to the town about the reactor, then they may get an extra scene with Barret. By this point, the player is keen to see the reactor.
Idk, the continuity seems to flow better this way. It's hard to say what the original intention was, but I feel as though the village was meant to be visited prior to the reactor.