More than 6,000 kilometers of roads in the country have been built and rehabilitated over the past two years, a milestone that the Philippines has never seen in a long time, Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar said.
Since July 2016 when the “Build, Build, Build” program started, 6,157 kilometers of roads have been constructed, widened, upgraded, and rehabilitated while 2,680 bridges nationwide were also constructed and rehabilitated from July 2016 to December 2018, Villar said. “These are projects that are game-changing projects and we haven’t seen this for a long time, I think, in our country. And nakakatuwa na sabay sabay ginagawa,” he said.
The plan was to totally rid the roads of traffic congestion, prompting the government to implement high-standard highways and expressways. Under this master plan, roads and bridges will be constructed and widened, and diversion roads, flyovers, inter-changes, and under passes will be built.
With this accomplishment, Villar said, the impact of this master plan is finally being felt by the public.
“In terms of decongestion, nararamdaman na ng tao lalo na in other areas – we’re doing the widening of the Plaridel bypass; we will be opening a portion of the Central Luzon Expressway this year; we’ll be opening the Rosario Exit of the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway also this year; and we’re working on the extension of the TPLEX to San Fernando – so everything is on schedule,” Villar said.
“We look forward that the people will finally feel the ease of travelling. Maraming accomplishments this year, marami din next year so as they come on line, pa-improve nang pa-improve na ‘yung condition ng traffic sa bansa,” the Public Works and Highways Secretary added.
Most of the constructed and rehabilitated roads were in Luzon with a total of 3,276 kilometers. Most of the bridges built were also in Luzon with 1,314 made.
Villar, however, emphasized that the mission to improve the road network of the country does not only focus in Luzon.
Build, Build, Build projects are also placed outside Luzon, he said. “Actually, there are a lot of big-ticket projects outside Metro Manila. We made sure that every region has a share of major projects. Kaya ang Build, Build, Build hindi lang mararamdaman sa iisang area, buong Pilipinas talaga,” Villar said.
Among the key projects in other regions were the Urdaneta City bypass road in Pangasinan, Plaridel bypass road in Bulacan, Laguna Lake Highway, Tacloban City bypass road in Leyte, and the 86.11-kilometer Davao High Standard Highway Network. (Betheena Kae Unite)
