City, DPWH brace for ‘build stage’ of UN Ave. underpass

Make way, folks. A contractor of the public works agency will start clearing the sides of United Nations Ave. in Mandaue City this week, ahead of building service roads for an underpass project. (SunStar Foto/Allan Cuizon)
Make way, folks. A contractor of the public works agency will start clearing the sides of United Nations Ave. in Mandaue City this week, ahead of building service roads for an underpass project. (SunStar Foto/Allan Cuizon)

MANDAUE City Mayor Luigi Quisumbing assured that the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and Traffic Enforcement Agency of Mandaue (TEAM) are coordinating on the UN Ave. underpass project, the first phase of which will start this week.

Phase 1 of the P711.9-million project will entail cleaning the spaces near the site and deploying heavy equipment, something that the mayor expects will affect traffic.

“Mao lagi na, the TEAM enforcers and the DPWH are coordinating. We will try to soften the blow as much as possible and we are looking for alternative routes to utilize while the project is ongoing,” said Quisumbing.

Think of how much the underpass will improve traffic in the area once it’s done, the mayor said.

“Kahibaw gyud mi nga aduna’y inconvenience sa part sa commuting public, but once the structure is finished, I am sure there will be a more efficient traffic flow. Whether we like it or not, any infrastructure development is inconvenient. Panagsa ra gyud ta makahimo og project nga walay inconvenience sa public (It’s very rare that a project gets done without causing any inconvenience),” the mayor said.

TEAM head Glenn Antigua confirmed the DPWH clearing operations will begin on the lots that the agency will acquire for right-of-way and a service road that will be used while the underpass is being built.

For now, the DPWH contractor will work along UN Ave. and not on the road itself, which leads to the Marcelo Fernan Bridge and the national highway that is the main road to Northern Cebu.

Right of way

DPWH met last Thursday with stakeholders, including owners of establishments that may be affected by the project. Heavy traffic near the site of another DPWH underpass project in Mambaling, Cebu City has prompted calls for DPWH and the local government to ensure that traffic disruption in Mandaue is kept minimal.

For its part, the DPWH said it will acquire the lots affected by the widening of UN Ave. at market price before the agency will construct the underpass.

Lawyer Jerome Castillo of the DPWH Legal Division said that under the new law, market value is higher than the zonal valuation set by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

Castillo explained the lots for the widening of UN Ave. will include a space, close to a meter wide, to be provided for the utility companies that supply power, water, and phone services.

Last July 19, DPWH 7 Director Ador Canlas said that the agency will start the “build stage” of the UN Underpass Project tomorrow, July 23, but will focus first on widening to set service roads on both sides of the avenue.

Once these two-lane service roads are completed, then that will be the time to build the underpass.

DPWH 7 Design Division Chief Nonie Paylado said that as part of the project, the two-lane UN Ave. will become an eight-lane road, counting the four lanes the underpass will make available.

Paylado said that DPWH will implement the underpass project without closing access between the cities of Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue, passing through Marcelo Fernan Bridge. (JPP, EOB)

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