BORACAY ISLAND, Aklan — The widening of roads in Boracay will start within this month.
The demolition of structures to clear the main roads of the three barangays on the island is almost complete, said Wenceslao M. Leaño Jr., Regional Director of Department of Public Works and Highways in Western Visayas (DPWH-6).
More than 100 personnel from their department have been deployed to do the clearing operations since the island’s closure last April 26, he said in an interview on Thursday.
Leaño said that they have allotted a PHP490-million budget for the widening of more or less five kilometers of road.
He said the roads of the island, once widened, will have a width of 6.1 meters, wider than the previous 4-meter width.
“Once completed, it will be a two-way traffic unlike before that it is only one-way. There will also be a sidewalk,” he added.
Leaño said that he might require the contractor of the project to work even at night so it will be completed before the island’s re-opening.
“We were given six months so we will do everything to complete them by October,” he said.
He clarified that the road widening project will be continuous until they complete the 20-kilometer road on the island that needed to be widened.
More than 500 structures encroaching into the 12-meter road easement along the main road of the island were demolished since its closure last April 26.
This is to pave the way for the road widening project, one of the main features of the ongoing rehabilitation of the island.
In an interview with Community Environment and Natural Resources Officer (CENRO) for Boracay Richard Fabila, he said that there are only less than 50 structures needing to be demolished here.
“At any given moment, within this week, the road construction will already start and the equipment of DPWH are already in place,” he said. (PNA)
