Circumferential road project still on shelf: DPWH

THE Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said the Cebu Circumferential Road was not realized because it was not approved by the Investment Coordination Committee (ICC) of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), which preferred the South Reclamation and the Cebu South Coastal Road.

In a statement faxed to Sun.Star Cebu, District Engineer Nicomedes Leonor Jr., of the DPWH Cebu City Engineering District, said they disapproved it because the proposed roads cost too much and could not be accommodated in the foreign loan being applied for to support the Metro Cebu Development Project (MCDP) III.

“Nevertheless, it is still considered to be among the projects that could give a major impact on road transport,” Leonor said in a statement.

He said the proposal to build the Cebu City Circumferential Road came out as a recommendation from the Special Assistance for Project Formation (Saprof) study for MCDP, which was conducted in 1988 by MCDP with the Japanese Government under the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund (OECF).

Schedule

Leonor said the proposal was again included in the High Standard Highway Projects for Metro Cebu based on the “Master Plan Study on High Standard Highway Network Development in the Philippines by Japan International Cooperation Agency” (Jica) for DPWH.

“The project is proposed to be completed in 2020 as a two-lane road and will be widened into a four-lane road by 2030,” Leonor said.

For now, Leonor said, the plan is being worked out and its feasibility study and
detailed engineering updated so they will be considered in the DPWH’s future programs.

The district engineer said that considering the topographical conditions and traffic and urbanization patterns of Cebu City, the team (Saprof) concluded that the road network of Metro Cebu should be grid type, consisting of three major arterial roads (coastal expressway, central arterial road and hillside bypass) running in the south-north direction and distributor roads running in the east-west direction.

Solution

Leonor explained that the Cebu City Circumferential Road was envisioned as one of the long-term solutions to decongest traffic in the Central Business Districts (CBDs) of Metro Cebu.

He said it was estimated to run from Naga City to Danao City, and carry diverted traffic from the southern and northern towns of Cebu Province, which are going to the uptown Cebu and adjoining area.

This will prevent vehicular traffic going to the uptown areas from passing through congested zones in Mandaue, Mambaling and CBDs, Leonor said.

Leonor said that considering, however, the urgency then to mitigate the traffic along the Mandaue City link, the study team considered the construction of a causeway off the Mandaue shoreline linking the existing Osmeña Blvd. in the Cebu North Reclamation to the approach of Mactan Bridge.

“This causeway was implemented under MCDP III and became part of the coastal expressway (Cebu South Coastal Road),” Leonor said.