ILOILO City – The construction of a P480-million flyover in Barangay Ungka II, Pavia, Iloilo may start this month as soon as all the needed heavy equipment are in place. The public should prepare for a traffic bottleneck that may last for 18 months, according to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Region 6.
Project contractor International Builders Corp. will start mobilizing its heavy equipment Monday next week, Jan. 13, said DPWH assistant regional director Al Fruto yesterday.
The public should expect traffic congestion because two lanes of the six-lane Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. Avenue would be closed, he added.
There’s going to be an initial 50-meter road enclosure – from Petron gasoline station up to the intersection of Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. Avenue and President Corazon Aquino Avenue (Circumferential Road).
Construction of the 453.70-meter flyover (including the approaches, protection and right of way) will take 18 months, said Fruto.
The completed flyover will stretch from the Petron gasoline station up to the intersection of the Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. Avenue and the road leading to Parc Regency Subdivision.
Fruto urged the public to be a little more patient while the flyover construction is going on.
“This project will be beneficial to all when completed. It will bring more progress to Iloilo,” he said.
DPWH would make sure the flyover is finished without delays, he added.
According to the assistant regional director, DPWH has also been coordinating with the Iloilo City government’s Public Safety and Transportation Management Office (PSTMO) head Jeck Conlu (also the chief of the Metro Iloilo Guimaras Economic and Development Council) for a traffic rerouting plan.
They came up with several measures. These were the following:
* the traffic lights in Barangay Sambag, Jaro district and Barangay Ungka II, Pavia will be operated manually
* PSTMO would be making available 40 personnel to help direct the flow of vehicles in Barangay Sambag, Jaro and Barangya Ungka II, Pavia
* the local government of Pavia will be making available 20 traffic aides
* limit if not prohibit the number of private vehicles and trucks passing Barangay Ungka II, Pavia
* one lane on both sides of the Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. Avenue would be for public utility vehicles
* private vehicles from Iloilo City’s Molo, Mandurriao and Arevalo districts going to the Iloilo Airport may take the road traversing Barangay San Jose, San Miguel, Iloilo connecting to the Santa Barbara Road (Bangga Dama)
* private vehicles from Iloilo City Proper, Jaro and La Paz district going to the Iloilo Airport may take the road traversing BarangayTacas, Jaro stretching up to Pavia and Santa Barbara
Conlu said the PSTMO is also exploring the possibility of asking the help of residential subdivisions in barangays Ungka II and Aganan, Pavia; they could open their roads to private vehicles.
For Iloilo City-bound vehicles from the Iloilo Airport and other Iloilo central towns, they have two options to avoid the traffic gridlock in Barangay Ungka II. These were the following:
* when going to Jaro – take the Iloilo-Santa Barbara Road (particular Rizal Street – Taft Street – Barangay Agutayan – Barangay Cabugao Norte – Barangay Tigum – Barangay Pagsanga-an to Barangay Tacas, Jaro)
* when going to Mandurriao or Molo – take the Oton-San Jose, Santa Barbara Road (Bangga Dama, Santa Barbara – Bangga San Jose, San Miguel – left turn to Iloilo City ALEOSAN Road towards Hibao-an, Mandurriao)
The flyover at the intersection of the Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. Avenue and President Corazon Aquino Avenue in Barangay Ungka II, Pavia is one of four that DPWH is building to ease traffic congestion on major points leading in and out of Iloilo City.
The three others are at the junction of Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. Avenue and Felix Gorriceta Jr. Avenue in Barangay Aganan, Pavia; in Barangay Jibao-an, Pavia going to Mandurriao, Iloilo City; and at the intersection of the national highway and President Corazon Aquino Avenue in Barangay Buhang, Jaro.
Ilonggo senator Franklin Drilon who lobbied for these flyovers said, “We have to move quickly to solve this traffic congestion which irks drivers, commuters and tourists. We must prevent being compared to Metro Manila and Cebu City in terms of the gravity of traffic. It will not be good for the image of the city that we have worked hard on for several years.”
The 10-lane, 15-kilometer Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. Avenue serves as the main thoroughfare from Iloilo City to the Iloilo Airport in Cabatuan, Iloilo.
Drilon initiated the construction of the Sen. Benigno S. Aquino Jr. Avenue and the President Corazon Aquino Avenue during the Aquino administration. They now serve as main gateways to Iloilo City, easing traffic congestion.
The roads are now a commercial strip, dotted by new hotels and business establishment.
However, the rapid rise of Iloilo and the influx of tourists, Drilon acknowledged, caused traffic congestions particularly during rush hours (from 6:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. and from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.).
“We will address the traffic congestion in the area. While traffic is a sign of development, we cannot let it continue as it will affect our reputation as one of the few livable cities in the country, as well as our bid to make Iloilo a MICE destination,” Drilon said
The Ilonggo senator was referring to his campaign, together with the Department of Tourism, to position Iloilo as premier destination for meetings, incentives, conventions, and exhibits or MICE.
Fruto said all the proposed flyovers are projected to be completed by the end of 2021.
Construction (for 24 months) of the P560-million 436.90-meter Aganan flyover will start in the later part of February or early March 2020.
Work on the Jibao-an and Buhang flyovers, on the other hand, will start in the later part of 2020, said Fruto.
These two have an initial fund of P180 million each./PN
