THE widening of the 2.22-kilometer portion of the 24.61-kilometer Arterial (Plaridel) Bypass Road in the Province of Bulacan is almost complete, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said.
The new four-lane road is expected to resolve the slow traffic movement due to increasing volume of vehicles utilizing the existing two-way-two-lane bypass road that connects North Luzon Expressway in Barangay Burol, Balagtas with Daang Maharlika Highway in Barangay Maasim, San Rafael.
In his report to DPWH Secretary Mark A. Villar, Undersecretary for Unified Project Management Office (UPMO) Operations Emil K. Sadain said the widening of the 1.063-kilometer road and construction of two two-lane bridges adjacent to existing bridge, namely, 1.121-km Angat Bridge (Bridge No. 8) and 40.86 linear meter Bridge No. 9 under Contract Package 3 of the Arterial (Plaridel) Bypass Road Phase 3, will be fully completed by end of March 2021.
The additional two lanes of the bypass road will be inaugurated next month and motorists will soon be able to use this section, Sadain said after an inspection he and DPWH UPMO Roads Management Cluster 1 Project Director Virgilio Castillo and Project Manager Basilio Elumba conducted.
The widening of Plaridel Bypass Road will cut the average travel time of about 15,000 motorists per day between Burol, Balagtas and Maasim, San Rafael in Bulacan from 69 minutes to 24 minutes.
With a total cost of P1.092 billion, Contract Package 3 was funded by the derived project savings from Arterial (Plaridel) Bypass Road Phase 2 financed by a loan agreement between the Government of the Philippines and Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) under PH-P250 and a new loan agreement also with Jica under PH-P266.
The contract package covers the Plaridel Bypass Road station 47+400 in Barangay Bonga Menor, Bustos, Bulacan up to station 49+625 in Brgy. Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan and involves construction of portland concrete cement pavement of seven meters carriageway, 0.35 meter thick, and 2.50 meters shoulder for both sides.
Angat Bridge (Bridge No. 8), which is one of the longest bridges in the Philippines at 1.12 kilometers, has a carriageway of 8.25 meters with the main span between pier numbers 14-21 made of seven spans prestressed concrete continuous box girder erected by a balance cantilever method with a total length of 400 meters, and 24 side spans from abutment 1 to pier 14 with the length of 420 meters and pier 21 to abutment 2 with the length of 300 meters connected by continuous precast prestressed concrete AASHTO girder, Type V on bored pile foundations.
Part of the project are the construction of underpass, drainage facilities and slope protection structures; and provision of miscellaneous works such as installation of road signs, kilometer posts, guardrails and pavement markings.