P3.4-B Tacloban causeway project underway

Photo from DPWH-Eastern Visayas
Photo from DPWH-Eastern Visayas

A P3.4692-BILLION worth of causeway project will soon connect Tacloban city proper and Barangay San Jose through the Cancabato Bay, cutting the usual 45-minute travel time to approximately 10 minutes only.

Engr. Allan Borromeo, director of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in Eastern Visayas, said the causeway “will serve as an alternate route for motorists from the city proper going to the airport, offering reduced travel distance, travel time, vehicle operation costs, and road accidents.”

“This project is expected to offer an improved path user experience that attracts the local community and tourists and will soon cater as an infrastructure that can be used by motorists seeking a scenic drive and by locals who prefer walking, running, and biking,” Borromeo added.

The Tacloban City Causeway, which is identified as one of the priority infrastructure projects and the first of its kind in the region, will be implemented by the DPWH before the year 2022 ends.

The causeway will have a four-lane road embankment spanning approximately up to 2.557 kilometers in length with a bridge that stretches to 180 meters.

According to DPWH, the project also has separate bike lanes, concrete canals, sidewalks and wave deflectors on both sides.

It will start near the Tacloban City Hall area, crossing Cancabato Bay, to Kataisan point of the DZR Airport area in Barangay San Jose.

“Per project design, the alignment starts at Magsaysay Boulevard with elevation gradually increasing towards the bridge at the middle part of the causeway, as required for navigational clearance, and eventually slopes down towards the end of the alignment,” the DPWH said.

“The causeway project is designed to be sturdy in order to endure harsh site location and high humidity, as well as somehow serve as protection for nearby communities against the wrath of nature such as erosive tidal movements brought by weather disturbances,” it added.

For the fiscal year 2022, the DPWH will be constructing the 0.586 kilometers of the causeway project with an allocation of P990 million.

The rest of the project is to be proposed in fiscal 2024 and beyond.

Following its project description, the main core of the causeway structure is common borrow reinforced with high strength geotextile laid at every 2-meter fill.

The hydraulic geotextile tubes are to be placed on both sides to contain the embankment and to add stability to the structure.

Also, the toe and side slopes of the embankment are protected by layers of armored rocks, Class II and III for the outer and inner layers, respectively, according to DPWH.

“Upon completion, the project is seen to contribute to the growth of the region’s tourism industry and related business activities, which helps in attaining sustainable development in the region,” it added.

As this developed, environmental groups have appealed for public support to “increase stakeholders' awareness and knowledge of the said project.”

In a statement posted by independent non-profit organization Waste 360°, they urged Tacloban residents to meet on Sunday, September 4, to discuss the planned causeway project that will traverse the waters of Cancabato Bay.

The event, dubbed “Huruhimangraw: Defend Kankabatok Bay” and hosted by Kadiwa Fisherfolk Association, will take place at Paraiso Mangrove Eco Learning Park, Marine and Wildlife Sanctuary in Barangay San Jose.

The organizers aimed to develop a statement to increase protection for Cancabato Bay against pollution and environmental destruction. (SunStar Philippines)

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