ILOILO City – When completed, the new 41-kilometer Panay East-West Lateral Road connecting central and northern Iloilo to the provinces of Antique and Capiz is expected to spur the growth of agri-ecotourism in Panay Island, according to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
The P2.6-billion road includes several bridges and slope protection, said Assistant Regional Director Al Fruto.
Iloilo, Antique and Capiz are mainly rice-producing areas but they also boast of myriad tourist destinations such as beach and mountain resorts, and farmlands doubling as tourist attractions, too.
Around one-fourth of the road has so far been finished, said Fruto, since construction started three years ago.
This was composed of two road sections – the Bugasong-Valderrama road section in Antique and Lambunao-Inca road section in Iloilo.
The Bugasong-Valderrama road section had a total length of 28 kilometers while the Lambunao-Inca road section was 13 kilometers.
According to Fruto, the Panay East-West Lateral Road had long been in the drawing board. It was in 1987 yet when the pre-feasibility study for it was done./PN
