THE Regional Development Council (RDC) has approved the conduct of a feasibility study for the proposed Mandaue-Consolacion-Liloan bypass road project, which is expected to ease traffic in the northern highway of Cebu.
The terms of reference (TOR) for the feasibility study were approved by the RDC during their full council meeting last Friday at Montebello Hotel.
The study will determine the final project cost and actual length of the new road project, among many others.
The TOR for the feasibility study was formulated by the RDC’s technical working group (TWG) headed by Engr. William Lui.
Its members include the Department of Public Works and Highways 7, National Economic and Development Authority 7, Cebu Ports Authority and the local government units of Consolacion, Mandaue City, Liloan and Lapu-Lapu City.
In its recommendation, the TWG said that a bypass road from Mandaue to Liloan will serve as an alternative route to the heavily congested Tayud, Consolacion-Liloan road.
Glenn Soco, who is head of the RDC’s Infrastructure Development Committee, hopes that the bypass road also known as the Cebu North Coastal Road Project will be implemented soon.
He said it will be a landmark project for Metro Cebu.
Soco said the new road project will be like a boulevard.
It will go from behind the Cebu International Port in Cebu City to the back of the Mandaue City Sports Complex.
It will then pass through the first and second Mandaue-Mactan Bridge then to the seashores of Consolacion and Liloan.
Complement
The Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry president also said the bypass road will complement the construction of a new Cebu International Container Port in Consolacion, which has been approved by President Rodrigo Duterte.
The P9.2-billion new port will be built on a 12-hectare property in Tayud and is expected to start in the third quarter of 2017.
The construction of a bypass road was identified as one of the basic infrastructure facilities needed in Metro Cebu under the 1994 Cebu Integrated Development Master Plan Study.
The study was conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency.