Highway project suffers minor setbacks

THE Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will make a minor adjustment on the alignment of the Metro Cebu Expressway due to the problem on the road-right-of way (RROW) acquisition and the topography of some areas.

In a news conference during the Sulong Pilipinas 2018 Forum on Friday, Nov. 9, DPWH Undersecretary Emil Sadain said they’re studying portions of the alignment to determine if these are feasible, as some areas are on the mountainside.

Sadain said the Metro Cebu Expressway and the fourth Mandaue to Mactan bridge are two major infrastructure projects that will be implemented next year.

The expressway, which will stretch from the City of Naga in the south to Danao City in the north, is expected to cut travel time to at least one hour from the usual three to four hours of travel.

The project is expected to cost P30 billion.

Apart from topography, the DPWH 7 is having problems with the RROW acquisition.

“We’re looking at some revisions at totality of implementation because although it is a locally funded project by the DPWH Region 7, we saw that there should be a focus on RROW acquisition. There are some alignment that are unsettled yet for RROW,” Sadain said.

DPWH 7 is using P300 million from its 2018 national budget for road acquisition and the initial construction of a 2.5-kilometer four-lane road in the City of Naga, which is part of segment 3 of the project.

The expressway will traverse upland barangays of at least five cities and four municipalities, including the cities of Naga, Talisay, Cebu, Mandaue, Danao and the towns of Minglanilla, Consolacion, Liloan and Compostela.

As to the fourth bridge, Sadain said the DPWH had already submitted to the Japan International Cooperation Agency the application for possible funding from the Japan Technical Cooperation and Civil Works. RVC