DPWH bares road repair schedule

Taking advantage of the relatively low number of vehicles plying the streets of Metro Manila during  Holy Week, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)  will undertake  road repairs starting  midnight of Holy Thursday until Easter Sunday in various parts of the Metro, including portions of the 23-kilometer Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (Edsa), the country’s busiest thoroughfare.

DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson on Wednesday said the repairs are necessary “to improve the riding surface, prolong the life of the roads, as well as reduce travel time and vehicle operating costs.”

Alternate routes

Personnel of the DPWH-National Capital Region will be on hand to monitor the work, said Singson as he advised motorists to use alternate routes.

“With the concrete poured and cured, the repaired road sections will be open to vehicular traffic before

5 a.m. next Monday (April 1),” said Singson in a statement.

In Caloocan City, road repairs will cover the northbound lane from Asuncion Street to MCU Hospital and the southbound lane from Benin Street to Urbano Plata Street.

The agency’s Third Metro Manila District Engineering Office will supervise the road repair activities of private firms LR Tiqui Builders and Jagon Builders Construction Corp.

Supervision

In Quezon City, the local government unit’s First Engineering Office has been tasked to supervise repair works by Rend Enterprises and General Construction on Edsa northbound from Congressional Avenue to Access Road, and Dimaguila Construction and Supply on Edsa southbound from Cloverleaf to Oliveros Street.

The First Metro Manila District Engineering Office will oversee the work at Edsa from the northbound lane to the underpass, under IM Construction Corp., and the southbound lane, to be undertaken by B. Bernardo Construction  in Mandaluyong City.

In Makati City, the Second Metro Manila District Engineering Office will join  AUKH Construction in the repair of Edsa-Makati’s norhtbound lane from 7-Eleven near the Estrella foot bridge to Guadalupe Bridge.

On the other hand, the southbound segment from Guadalupe to San Carlos Seminary will be handled by Vivid Construction.

In Pasay City, the South Manila Engineering District Office will supervise repair works from the pedestrian overpass on Dela Cruz Extension fronting the Victory Liner bus terminal.”

AKH Construction is handling the Edsa-Pasay City repairs.

Other sites

Also to be repaired are Nicanor Reyes Street in Sampaloc, San Marcelino Street, Remedios Street, and President Quirino Avenue, all in Manila; and Mindanao Avenue, North Avenue, Road 8, Fairview Avenue, and Milano Drive in Quezon City.

Last month, President Aquino stopped the rehabilitation of Edsa which had been planned to start after the May midterm elections.

Malacañang deputy spokesperson Abigail Valte said the President wanted a further study of the Edsa rehab plan, including the inclusion of additional measures to reduce the inconvenience this would cause motorists.

Improvements

Every time major road improvements on Edsa are initiated, the patience of motorists and commuters using the thoroughfare are tested, observers said.

But according to Singson, this will be true only while Phase 1 of the P3.7-billion project, which involves the stretch of Edsa from Roxas Boulevard in Pasay to Julia Vargas Avenue in Mandaluyong, is underway.

He clarified that the rest of Edsa will be open and traffic in those areas will be normal while work on Edsa is ongoing.

Once the rehabilitation work is over, Singson assured motorists that driving on Edsa will be  as “smooth” as taking the North and South Luzon Expressways.