DPWH: Work set for Makati CBD underpass

RELIEF AT END OF THE TUNNEL  An artist’s perspective of the planned P1-billion underpass at the intersection of Makati and Sen. Gil Puyat (formerly Buendia) avenues in the Makati City central business district. The other end will be near Paseo de Roxas.  PHOTO from DPWH

MANILA, Philippines–Expect the flow of traffic in Makati City to become heavier starting in April as work begins on the P1.054-billion vehicle underpass on Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue (formerly Buendia).

In a recent statement, Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson said that the “civil works for the project [would] immediately start after the completion of preconstruction activities” next month.

With a target completion date of January 2017, the four-lane underpass for vehicles will be built on the innermost lanes of Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue and pass through the intersections of Makati Avenue and Paseo de Roxas. It will be 880 meters long with a covered tunnel spanning 570 meters.

To prevent flooding, the underpass will have two pumping stations equipped with three submersible pumps on top of a tunnel drain box and reinforced concrete pipe culvert.

Other features of the project are LED lights for the tunnel, at-grade street lights, fire protection facilities and closed-circuit television cameras that may be hooked up to Makati’s central traffic control system.

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will be in charge of implementing the project with United Technologies Consolidated Partnership as the consulting firm and Foundation Specialist Inc. as the contractor.

Once finished, the vehicle underpass is expected to “provide uninterrupted traffic flow on Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue” and ease traffic in the Makati central business district (CBD).

Singson, meanwhile, appealed for understanding from motorists and commuters. According to him, his department has started coordinating with officials from the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and Makati City government about the traffic management plan for areas to be affected by the project.

Earlier, he told the Inquirer that the long-delayed P3.74-billion rehabilitation of Edsa would start in the first quarter of the year.

Singson said the stretch of Guadalupe to Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue in Makati would be the pilot area for the series of major road works first announced two years ago.

The DPWH will be applying new technologies in pavement improvement, including the use of “special high-grade asphalt from Singapore,” which is considered more rigid, durable, highly resistant to cracks and other road deformations, and thus suitable for roads with high-traffic volume.

DPWH-National Capital Region Director Reynaldo Tagudando said it would be the first time the imported materials would be used in a government road project in Metro Manila.

However, he clarified that local road rehabilitation materials would also be utilized for the project.

Tagudando told the Inquirer that preparations were underway for the Edsa project’s procurement process, adding that they were hoping to conduct the bidding by the early part of the year.