CALBAYOG CITY, Samar — The Department of Public Works and Highways has closed a section of a primary highway that links Samar province to Luzon Island after a massive rock fall hit this city.
“Boulders as huge as houses fell Thursday night and we’re thankful that the incident happened far from residential areas,” said DPWH Samar first district engineer Alvin Ignacio on Friday.
Ignacio said that the area has a history of rock fall, but Thursday’s incident is the most devastating so far as boulders blocked the entire four-lane road.
Heavy rains in the province since last week triggered the rock fall.
The DPWH advised motorists going to the north and south to take the Catarman-Calbayog via Lope de Vega route.
On Friday morning, the DPWH made a detour road for the motorists to pass along the said area, but still limit the passage of vehicles.
“Some motorists still want to pass on the area despite our advisory to take the Lope de Vega route, so we just made a detour road for them to pass but controlled and scheduled,” Ignacio added.
However, in its advisory issued late Friday afternoon, the DPWH field office said the portion of the rock fall-hit road will be temporarily closed to traffic to all types of vehicles.
“The clearing operations and the continuing repair or improvement of the constructed detour road will be temporarily stopped due to darkness and the danger of another rock fall,” the DPWH said in a statement.
The Calbayog-Allen Road is a vital link of Luzon-bound vehicles from Mindanao and Eastern Visayas regions. It leads to a roll-on roll-off (RoRo) port in Allen, Northern Samar.
For decades, RoRo ferries cross the San Bernardino Strait, transporting passengers and vehicles to and from Allen Port and Matnog Port in Sorsogon. With a distance 28 kilometers, the average travel time is one hour and 30 minutes. (Jennifer Allegado/PNA)
