PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal Arroyo yesterday led the inauguration of the P2.366-billion Cansaga Bay Bridge in Barangay Paknaan, Mandaue City.
Now 90 percent finished, the bridge is already passable, although some portions have yet to be cemented. It rises above Cansaga Bay and connects Paknaan to Barangay Tayud in Consolacion.
Around this time last year, the President was irked after finding out that the Cebu North Coastal Road Project, which includes the Cansaga Bay Bridge, was still not completed long after she led its groundbreaking in 2007.
Things were different yesterday.
Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia thanked the President for the bridge, “a vital structure that will continue to sustain and propel the growth and development of Cebu.”
The bridge, she said, “will forever serve as a lasting testament of the President’s unparalleled support and care for the Province of Cebu.”
Apart from the governor, the president was joined in yesterday morning’s inauguration by Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes, Vice Mayor Carlo Fortuna, Reps. Nerissa Soon-Ruiz (Cebu, 6th district) and Benhur Salimbangon (Cebu, 4th district), Tourism Secretary Joseph Durano, Liloan Mayor Duke Frasco, Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Lito Ruiz and congressional aspirant Luigi Quisumbing.
Arroyo arrived at the bridge past 10 a.m. and led the unveiling of the bridge’s marker, before the inaugural drive- through.
Mayor Cortes thanked the Arroyo administration for the bridge, which he said will spur economic growth and inspire confidence in the northern towns.
The mayor also expects the bridge to decongest vehicular traffic to northern Cebu, which is at present concentrated on the Cebu North Road.
u00a0“The opening of this bridge will de-load the traffic volume in Mandaue’s highways,” said Fortuna.
Public Works and Highways Secretary Victor Domingo said the bridge will open up new developments. “The point of the President in putting up this bridge is to fast-track the development of the City and Province of Cebu,” said Domingo.