DPWH to start underpass construction in June; public told to brace for traffic

Perspective of the underpass to be constructed in portion of the N. Bacalso Ave.

CEBU CITY—Expect traffic to be heavy along N. Bacalso Avenue and F. Llamas Street next month when the Department of Public Work and Highways (DPWH) starts the construction of an underpass.

A portion of the road would have to be closed down to give way to the project that cost about P638 million.
Ador Canlas, DPWH director for Central Visayas, said a traffic rerouting scheme would be implemented once construction started.

A dry run for the rerouting of public utility jeepneys (PUJ) is scheduled on June 7 and 8.

“Depending on the results of the dry run, we will know how the situation will be when we start implementing the project,” said Canlas during a stakeholders’ meeting at the DPWH regional office on Wednesday morning.

If the dry run went well, he said the contractor would be asked to mobilize their equipment for the first phase of the project.

According to DPWH project engineer Roy dela Cruz, the first phrase of the project will involve boring and piling works at the portion of the project site on the southbound lane of N. Bacalso Ave. located in front of a fastfood restaurant.

He said each of the project’s phases will run from three to four months.

The underpass will be 700 meters long and will have a two-way, two-lane depressed structure at the intersection N. Bacalso Avenue and F. Llamas Street.

To build the underpass, the DPWH needs to widen the existing road in the area by 20 to 30 meters.