ILOILO City – The P591-million Hibao-an flyover in Barangay Hibao-an, Mandurriao district will be opened to traffic on Dec. 12.
Its construction will be completed by mid-November this year, according to Engineer Sanny Boy Oropel, the officer-in-charge of Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Region 6.
Former Senate President Franklin M. Drilon, who visited the flyover yesterday, affirmed, “We will open it just in time for Christmas.”
Drilon explained that although the construction will be completed next month, the project contractor, International Builders Corporation (IBC), still needs to do the housekeeping and give way for the curing period.
Last week, the DPWH-6 has announced a 30-day delay in the anticipated opening of the flyover. It was originally set to open on Oct. 15.
The department cited recent rains and unresolved construction elements as reasons for the delay.
What’s left for IBC to complete are the approaches and Mechanically-Stabilized Earth (MSE) Retaining Walls.
Oropel further explained there was a delay because the construction of the approaches and MSE Retaining Walls involved a special methodology.
The Hibao-an flyover, positioned along the Iloilo Circumferential Road (C-1), stretches 240 meters and boasts two lanes featuring six 40-meter-span pre-stressed concrete girders (PSCG). Construction commenced in late 2020.
The flyover aims to facilitate access to the southern part of Iloilo and the neighboring province of Antique while reducing traffic congestion in the neighboring towns of Pavia and San Miguel, as well as the roads within Mandurriao district.
“You can see the traffic here before was terrible and that is why we work for the funding of this project. This is one of the four flyovers that we funded last years of my term in the Senate and we’re about to finish it,” added Drilon./PN
