Paylado
THE multi-billion peso Metro Cebu Expressway project will not only decongest traffic but spur economic growth by easing the delivery of goods and services to people.
“Commerce will really grow because trucks won’t have to go through congested urban centers and just pass through the highway,” said Engineer Nonato Paylado, planning division chief of the regional Department of Public Works and Highways in Central Visayas (DPWH-7).
The 74-kilometer Cebu Circumferential Road or Metro Cebu Expressway is divided into three segments; from Talisay City to Consolacion town, Consolacion to Danao City and Talisay City to Naga City.
Based on a feasibility study by CEDCO Engineers, the private engineering consultant hired by DPWH, project cost was pegged at P26 billion.
“The amount was still anchored on the zonal value of the properties that will be affected by the project,” Paylado said in yesterday’s Kapihan sa PIA.
Paylado said they are still working on the funding sources and the project may start in 2022.
They are now looking at the possibility of tapping a foreign funding institution to fund project implementation.
Paylado said that aside from the expressway, DPWH Central Visayas office is also proposing the establishment of a UN Avenue Depressed Structure, which will be located in the UN Avenue going to the Marcelo Fernan Bridge and Plaridel Street in Mandaue City which is a very congested junction.
“This depressed structure will be a four-lane roadway along UN Avenue,” said Paylado.
He said they proposed a four-lane road project worth P946 million and it will already be bidded out within the year.
For its part, the Cebu City District Engineering Office said they are focusing on flood control and riverbank preservation projects.
Engineer Mary June Ruiz said they are focused on the construction of flood control projects along the Guadalupe, Butuanon and Budlaan rivers where the soil is very soft, making these areas prone to landslide.
“The city has been experiencing high-level damage because of flood,” Ruiz said during the Kapihan sa PIA held at the Ramon Aboitiz Studies Center.