The Central Visayas Regional Development Council-Infrastructure Development Committee endorsed the proposed feasibility study on the Mandaue-Consolacion-Liloan bypass road project. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/GLENN SOCO)
The Central Visayas Regional Development Council-Infrastructure Development Committee (RDC 7-IDC) has approved the Mandaue–Consolacion–Liloan bypass road project seen to decongest traffic along the northern highway in Cebu.
National Economic and Development AuthorityCentral Visayas (Neda-7) Director Efren Carreon said the project, whose feasibility study was endorsed by the IDC to the RDC-7 for approval on Tuesday, is expected to ease up traffic along the present Tayud–Liloan road.
“This is a very good project that will also ease traffic along the national highway,” Carreon told Cebu Daily News in a text message on Wednesday.
The final project cost and actual length will be determined through the feasibility study to be conducted by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH-7).
Carreon added that the project will also support the new Cebu International Container Port that will be built by the Cebu Port Authority (CPA) on a 12-hectare site in Barangay Tayud, Consolacion.
The Neda Board, chaired by President Rodrigo Duterte, on Monday approved the P9.2-billion proposed port project expected to ease cargo and vessel berthing congestion in the existing international port at the North Reclamation Area in Cebu City.
Construction is estimated to begin within the third quarter of 2017 while commercial operation of the port is seen to start by 2020.
Sought for comment, CPA general manager Edmund Tan said the bypass road is “good” for the new container port.
He said the road will connect the new port to the town of Liloan in the north and the existing port in the south, making it easier to transport goods.
Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) president Glenn Soco, for his part, said he hopes the project will materialize soon as this will play a vital role in the growth and development of Cebu.
“This project is vital to Cebu’s economy as it will ease traffic in the north and will compliment the new Cebu International Port,” he said.
Soco added that since it is coastal and has scenic features, it could actually become one of Cebu’s landmarks.
On Tuesday, the RDC-IDC approved Resolution No. 43 (s. 2016) endorsing the proposed access roads for the new international port.
The Technical Working Group (TWG), with DPWH, Neda, CPA and concerned local government units as members, was created to come up with terms of reference for the project.
A feasibility study is necessary to determine the best alternate route to decongest the Tayud, Consolacion-Liloan Road.
The TWG was also tasked to make sure that the project entails the least social and economic disruption during construction and operation as well as the least right-of-way acquisition cost.