DPWH eyes completion of Tacloban bypass road in 2018

TACLOBAN CITY, April 12 (PNA) – The nearly PHP600 million bypass road in this city will be completely passable next year after it was delayed due to right of way acquisition issues, an official of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said.

The first phase will be done within the month, but the entire six-kilometer road stretch is still not passable with the incomplete works for phase 2, according to DPWH Eastern Visayas regional director Edgar Tabacon.

“The major setbacks were road right of way acquisition. We redesigned the plan and asked additional budget to buy more properties to build the four-lane highway,” Tabacon said on Tuesday.

The DPWH website reveals that PHP324 million worth of project activities for the bypass road have been completed last year. Of the total, PHP13.18 million was paid to property owners.

On April 25, the public works department will bid out another PHP241 million for the second phase of the project. A portion of the allocation is intended for right of way acquisition.

Under the original plan, the project required PHP542.48 million and would be completed within April 2017.

The bypass road, which starts at Tigbao village and ends at Caibaan village, was constructed to decongest traffic along Maharlika highway, according to DPWH.

The city’s Maharlika highway forms part of the Eastern Nautical Highway, which connects Eastern Visayas to Luzon and Mindanao. 

“Widening the existing highway is very costly and not anymore feasible. The option is to build a new bypass road to ease traffic congestion,” Tabacon added.

The project also involves paving of shoulders and slope protection works. When completed, the bypass road is expected to reduce travel time from more than an hour to only 30 minutes. (PNA)
SARWELL Q. MENIANO