Saturday, May 10, 2008 BCDA speeds up SCTEx farm crossings work By Albert B. Lacanlale
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- To make the whole Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) available to motorists, the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) has prodded its contractors to speed up completion of pedestrian overpasses that delayed the opening of the toll road's Clark-Tarlac stretch.
Though the SCTEx had been formally inaugurated on April 28, only the Subic-Clark portion can be accessed by motorists.
The remaining 32 kilometers (kms) of the 94-km stretch will only be opened after all the overpasses have been constructed, to avoid accidents among vehicles cruising the portion where constructions are ongoing and prevent undue disadvantage to farmers whose access to their farms were cut by the expressway.
SCTEx spokesperson Robert Gervacio said the locations of the eight overpasses were determined after dialogues with farmers, whose rice and sugarcane fields were temporarily rendered unreachable since they were fenced off as part of safety precautions after the expressway sliced through them.
Commercial operation of the remaining 32-km Clark-Tarlac segment of the SCTEx has been postponed to give way to the construction of the overpasses and allow their speedy completion.
Once opened, the expressway will allow travel between the Clark Freeport Zone and La Paz town in Tarlac in 25 minutes.
"We have to prioritize the completion of the overpasses to give the affected farmers access to their farmlands in the fastest time possible. The livelihood of our farmer stakeholders is of our utmost concern. We also do not want to compromise the safety of our motorists by allowing commercial operations while the overpasses are being built," Gervacio said.
