ILOILO City – The flyover in Barangay Ungka II, Pavia, Iloilo will open to all types of vehicles starting December 25, a confident Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Region 6 reiterated.
“We will keep our promise,” said Regional Director Sanny Boy Oropel.
The four-lane, 453.7 lineal meters long flyover was constructed beginning January 2020 and opened to traffic on the first week of September 2022. But this was closed two weeks after due to vertical displacement or subsidence.
Once operational at full capacity after the repairs, the flyover will accommodate all four-wheeled vehicles, modernized jeepneys, public utility jeepneys, and similar vehicles, said Oropel.
However, certain vehicles, such as trailer trucks, prime mover trucks, motorcycles, and other large vehicles, will still be prohibited, he clarified.
The P680-million flyover is undergoing rectification costing P300 million more.
Some tasks, Oropel said, such as completing the asphalt overlay underneath the flyover will continue even after the flyover opens.
“Part of the rectification is the complete overlay underneath, but this has been delayed due to the slow or non-action of Metro Pacific Iloilo Water (MPIW) on their repairs. This task is beyond our control,” Oropel said.
The Ungka flyover stretches from Barangay Ungka, Jaro, Iloilo City to Barangay Ungka II, Pavia. Straddling the major intersection of the Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. Avenue and President Corazon Aquino Avenue in Barangay Ungka II, it is meant to ease traffic congestion in this crucial point that leads in and out of Iloilo City.
Once the flyover opens, the current window time schedule allowing vehicles to pass only from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. daily will be lifted.
The flyover will operate 24/7, with strict enforcement of traffic regulations to ensure prohibited vehicles do not pass.
Oropel said DPWH would coordinate with the traffic management bureaus of Pavia and Iloilo City for nighttime monitoring and installation of appropriate traffic signs at the flyover’s approaches.
Motorists will not be compelled to use the flyover if they are not comfortable, but the public can rest assured that the structure is safe for use, Oropel added.
By the time DPWH-6 fully reopens the Ungka flyover to traffic, the structure’s cost will have ballooned to P980 million./PN
