The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is constructing a P4.05-billion access road connecting Subic Bay Freeport Zone (SBFZ) to Hermosa Ecozone Industrial Park (HEIP) in Bataan that will promote stronger economic activities in Central Luzon.
In a statement, Roseller Tolentino, DPWH Regional Office 3 director, said the access road is divided into two stages, the Mabiga-Morong-SBFZ section for Phase 1 and the Mabigat-Palihan section for Phase 2.
Included in the project’s phases 1 and 2 are the construction of a four-lane, 17.74-kilometer road from SBFZ to the Mabiga Exit of Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway and the 7.43-km. road opening with slope protection and drainage from barangays Mabiga to Palihan in Hermosa, Bataan.
Tolentino said ongoing construction works in the Mabiga-Morong segment of the Mabiga-Morong-SBFZ section and the Mabiga-Palihan section are expected to be completed in June 2022 and January 2023, respectively.
The whole stretch of the access road is set to be fully operational and open to the public by 2027.
Tolentino said the project is a multi-year endeavor by the regional office in close coordination with DPWH Bataan 1st District Engineering Office.
In 2020, the first phase of the project received a P120-million funding from the national budget for the 3.95-km. road improvement of the Mabiga-Morong-SBFZ section’s Mabiga-Morong segment.
A total of P200 million sourced from the 2021 General Appropriations Act was allocated for the civil works of the Mabiga-Palihan section.
Once finished, the access road will serve as a new alternate road from HEIP to major seaports and airports in the region, while also facilitating inter-regional transportation by acting as a link of the industrial center to the Luzon Spine Expressway.
