GUAGUA, Pampanga — The national government has allocated PHP1 billion for a new 29-kilometer road project proposed by Pampanga 2nd District Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Gregorio Audea, Pampanga Second Engineering District chief, said that Rep. Arroyo was able to convince the national government to include the construction of the Lubao-Guagua-Minalin-Sto Tomas Road in the budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) under the 2018 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
“This is just one of the many projects that Congresswoman Arroyo has planned not only for her district but even for the whole province,” Audea said.
The road will be a public highway which will allow motorists coming from Bataan to pass through the towns of Lubao, Sasmuan, Guagua, and Minalin, then out to the Santo Tomas portion of MacArthur Highway (Manila North Road).
This will cut travel time by avoidance of traffic along the Jose Abad Santos Avenue from the capital City of San Fernando to the towns of Bacolor and Guagua.
The project is in accord with the Pampanga Megalopolis masterplan crafted by renowned urban architect and planner, Felino Palafox, Jr.
At least three bridges will be constructed for the road alignment that will be carved mostly on existing dikes and fishponds.
Audea said the provincial government of Pampanga funded a PHP20-million feasibility study that would look into at least three possible alignments of the road that is seen to ease up traffic congestion in the capital city.
“If the feasibility study is completed by April and everything else goes on schedule after that, construction of this road will begin in the last quarter of this year,” Audea said.
Should the project be divided into several packages, the road construction may last for at least two years, he said.
Asked if the PHP1-billion budget will enough to complete the project, Audea explained that it will depend on the approved alignment and expenses on possible right of way acquisition.
“If the chosen alignment will be longer or would require more work, then fund augmentation may be required. But PHP1 billion is a good amount to start with and we people of Pampanga are lucky that our congresswoman was able to lobby for this allotment,” he said. (Marna Dagumboy Del Rosario/PNA)
