DPWH fixing roads to ensure safe travel during Holy Week

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said on Monday it would be expediting road repairs in the capital and elsewhere in the country to ensure travelers hassle-free road trips during the Holy Week.

DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson also announced that he had directed his personnel to make sure that signs and pavement markings along national roads have been properly installed as well as warning signs and proper markings set up in all ongoing road-improvement projects.

The installation of these markings and signs would ensure that motorists and travelers—both local and foreign—would be able to reach their destinations safely, said Singson in a statement Monday.

The DPWH is taking advantage of the dry season to complete various repair and maintenance works in Metro Manila and the provinces. Road repairs in the capital, which are being conducted every weekend, have resulted in traffic buildup in at least 20 major thoroughfares.

“Once our rehabilitation works on national roads are completed, the situation will certainly improve,” said Singson. But he advised those traveling out of the capital to take advantage of the long weekend to skip road sections where construction work is ongoing and take alternate routes instead.

In the same breath, he also appealed for more patience from motorists inconvenienced by the road maintenance, saying that it has been part of the government’s program to upgrade the quality and safety of national roads and bridges.

The DPWH has also directed all its field units across the country to reactivate the agency’s “Lakbay Alalay” program aimed to provide assistance to motorists during the Lenten season.

Singson said that starting 6 a.m. on March 31 to 12 noon on April 10, composite teams from the DPWH, the Land Transportation Office, the Philippine National Police, among other government agencies, would assist motorists along national roads.