South tunnel opening hinges on Arroyo

THE P1.7-billion tunnel connecting the South Road Properties and S. Osmeña St. in Cebu City is ready for public use, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said yesterday.

The 610-meter, four-lane tunnel that passes underneath the Plaza Independencia will be inaugurated once President Gloria Arroyo is available, said DPWH 7 Public Information Officer Marie Mignon Nillama.

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The project was supposed to be inaugurated last April 5, to coincide with the president’s birthday, but it was postponed because First Gentleman Mike Arroyo was hospitalized.

“We are waiting for the schedule of inauguration from Malacañang,” Nilla-ma said.

Meanwhile, the beautification of the Plaza Independencia, just outside Fort San Pedro, will be the responsibility of the Cebu City Government and not DPWH, Nillama
said.

Cebu City Vice Mayor Michael Rama said he did not receive any response yet from the government agencies he has asked to fund the beautification of Plaza Independencia and its nearby landmarks.

Rama said he also wrote the Office of the President to ask for funds, and learned in a recent meeting with President Arroyo that his letter has been endorsed to the Department of Tourism (DOT).

Rama, however, said there is no feedback yet from the DOT.

He plans to send another letter to follow up the request, as well as a separate request for the DPWH to help beautify the plaza.

The tunnel project started on June 28, 2006 and was supposed to be finished by Nov. 25, 2009 with an original budget of P1.3 billion.

However, the construction was extended for four months due to some revisions in the project plan. The changes also increased the cost to P1.7 billion.

The tunnel project, Nillama said, will decongest traffic on M.J. Cuenco Ave., M.C. Briones St. and the vicinities of Carbon Market and the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral.

It is among the big projects funded by the Arroyo administration in Cebu. The other one is the P2.4-billion Cebu North Coastal Road Project (CNCRP), which officially opened last month and has decongested traffic in Basak, Mandaue City.

DPWH Secretary Victor Domingo earlier told Sun.Star Cebu that CNCRP contractor Frank Soriano and tunnel contractor Kajima, a Japanese construction firm, are “excellently” implementing their projects.

Engr. Nilo Pamaylaon, DPWH 7’s director for the Metro Cebu Development Project, said all the specifications of the tunnel project were followed by Kajima.

Pamaylaon, who handles foreign-assisted projects, said the tunnel will cut the travel time from southern Cebu to the Cebu port area and the Mactan Cebu International Airport. (EOB/PDF)