The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is confident it will be able to finish major infrastructure projects before the end of the current administration despite the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
Mark Villar, DPWH secretary, said the government remains on track to complete the big-ticket projects as the DPWH is now working 24/7 to catch up on the delays due to the quarantines.
“… the effect of the COVID on our Build, Build, Build is minimal,” Villar said at yesterday’s pre-State of the Nation Address virtual briefing.
Despite reallocating the budget on infrastructure projects to the COVID-19 response, government is rationalizing the implementation of the projects so that none of the projects in the pipeline are canceled.
“We rationalized the disbursement (budget) as far as at this point, the Build, Build, Build continues its big-ticket projects,” he said.
There are 100 flagship projects worth P1.1 trillion in the Build Build Build pipeline.
Villar also identified some of these key projects at the briefing.
He said the Luzon spine expressway network program which targets to reduce travel time between Ilocos and Bicol from 20 hours to 9 hours. It has eight projects in the pipeline that are under construction. Of these, three major expressways are expected to be completed to help decongest the Edsa.
Villar said the traffic in Edsa is expected to be resolved soon with the completion of the North Luzon expressway (NLEX) Harbor Link project recently and the expected completion of Skyway Stage 3 and the bridge projects.
San Miguel Corp.’s Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3 is 83 percent complete and is targeted to be operational by yearend. It will reduce travel time from Buendia to Balintawak from 2 hours to 15-20 minutes.
Metro Pacific Tollways Corp.’s NLEX-South Luzon expressway connector project is an 8-kilometer four-lane elevated expressway extending the NLEX southward from the end of Segment 10. It is targeted to be completed by the end of next year.
These projects will reduce the number of cars in Edsa by over 65,000 by yearend, according to Villar.
Major bridge projects would also help decongest the traffic in Edsa. The Bonifacio Global City-Ortigas Center link road project is now 80 percent complete, while the Estrella-Pantaleon is 55 percent complete. These projects are expected to be finished by next year.
As of end May this year, Villar reported that DPWH has completed the construction and rehabilitation of 4,959 bridges. It also completed 8,941 flood mitigation structures and drainage system projects.
In addition, DPWH has completed the construction of 1,950 kms. tourism road as part of the program to provide safe and efficient access to tourism sites.
