DPWH Southern Leyte to complete Php48-M ‘saddle road’ concreting in seven months

MAASIN CITY, Southern Leyte, Feb. 5 (PNA) -– The alternative road designed to reduce the risk of passing the dangerous “saddle road” in Pintuyan town will be open to motorists in seven months with the implementation of P48 million road realignment concreting project.

The Department of Public Works and Highways - Southern Leyte District Engineering Office (DPWH-SLDEO) has bid out the project on February 1 to complete the three-year project design to prevent road accidents in the area.

“This year the road will be concreted after we have opened the diversion road and lower the grades in the past two years,” said district engineer Ma. Margarita C. Junia.

The Php48 million outlay will cover road concreting activities, construction of slope protection works, installation of line canal and metal guardrails.

In 2014, the central government has allocated Php20 million for the road opening works. The budget rose to Php50 million in 2015 for the opening and lowering of grades of the 560-meter alternative road.

Ongoing improvement within the saddle road section is primarily designed to reduce traffic accidents, which has claimed many lives in the past decade, according to DPWH.

The road’s steep incline and blind curves besides deep cliff make the road section the most dangerous in Eastern Visayas. The section is within the boundary of Son-ok and Manglit villages in Pintuyan town.

The highway is tagged as a vital link that connects Eastern Visayas to Mindanao.

The DPWH observed that more buses and rolling cargoes use the Benit port in San Ricardo town instead of nearby Liloan port considering the former’s proximity to Surigao.

The route is being serviced by Montenegro Shipping Lines Inc. using a roll-on roll-off vessel, which makes four round trips daily.

Sea travel from San Ricardo to Lipata port in Surigao del Norte takes an hour, way shorter compared to more than three hours of travel time through Liloan port. San Ricardo is about 40 kilometers away from Liloan town, traversing a paved road.

Although Benit port is closer to Surigao, some motorists prefer to take the Liloan port despite irregular trips, considering the difficulty in maneuvering along the “saddle road” in Pintuyan town. (PNA)
PGL/SQM/DPWH-PR