DAVAO CITY – The Department of Public Work and Highways (DPWH) will soon start construction works for the next segment of the Davao City Coastal Road project and will fast track it to catch up with the rapid growth of the city and the worsening traffic.
DPWH Regional Director Allan Borromeo, who attended the city council’s regular session on Tuesday to give a briefing on the status of the project, said the next segment is the 18-kilometer, four-lane (26 meters wide) road within the stretch of Bago Aplaya to Time Beach worth PHP3 billion.
The funding for the project, according to him, is provided under the 2018 allocation of the DPWH national office.
The entire road project costs PHP19 billion and is targeted for completion in 2022. The implementation of the project started in 2017. It is one of the major undertakings of the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.
Borromeo said that parts of the second segment are boat-docking areas for the fisherfolk of Punta Dumalag and Talomo. The first segment is a 1.7-kilometer road stretch from the entrance of Barangay Bago Aplaya.
The 300 families affected by the road right of way in the first segment had been compensated, Borromeo said, adding that DPWH is committed to complete the project, being considered as the long-term solution to the city’s worsening traffic problem.
He said five contractors will be working on five packages to include two bridges.
The coastal road project has four segments starting from Bago Aplaya to Times Beach; Times Beach to Roxas Avenue; Roxas Avenue to Sta. Ana Avenue; and from Sta. Ana Avenue to R. Castillo.
Borromeo said the project also includes a three-meter wide bicycle lane and an esplanade.
In an interview after speaking at the city council’s regular session, he also revealed that a future expansion would be provided from R. Castillo to Panabo City, Davao del Norte.
The coastal road can be connected to the proposed Davao–Samal Bridge, which is currently under study. (Lilian Mellejor/PNA)
