DPWH: Edsa reblocking not yet over

Of the remaining 27,633 square meters of road space on Edsa targeted for repairs by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) under a P230-million concrete reblocking program, private contractors finished working on 27,109-sq-m during Holy Week.

This was reported on Monday by Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson who assured the public that the rehabilitation of the remaining sections would be completed before the end of summer.

Earlier, DPWH-National Capital Region director Reynaldo Tagudando told the Inquirer that they would likely finish the reblocking project “by April 28.”

The agency earlier identified 85,051-sq-m of road space on Edsa that needed immediate repairs. Tagudando later disclosed that private contractors hired by the DPWH to do the job had finished working on 57,418-sq-m and that they would complete the rest during Holy Week.

In a briefing with reporters on Monday, Singson also said that they were taking “full responsibility” for the slight delay in the reopening of portions of the 23-kilometer highway that were closed to traffic due to last week’s reblocking activities.

The DPWH, he stressed, would not engage in a blame game with the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) which earlier said it would ask some of the project contractors to explain why they failed to meet the deadline. Portions of the country’s busiest thoroughfare opened at 8 a.m. Monday, instead of 5 a.m. as the DPWH had announced.

Tagudando, on the other hand, attributed the delay to the MMDA’s decision to delay the start of the concrete reblocking by 16 hours last week.

At the same time, Singson said the agency would push for the implementation of the much-delayed P3.74 billion major rehabilitation of Edsa “at least from Roxas Boulevard to the Greenhills area.”

Asked when, he replied: “Within the year.”

The planned rehabilitation of the entire stretch of Edsa has been put on hold due to traffic-related issues raised by the MMDA which has the final say in the issuance of permits for road projects in the metropolis.