The way to a better infrastructure

A GOVERNMENT that provides its people more mobility, connectivity and opportunity for all are what the current administration imagined with their infrastructure program dubbed as “Build, Build, Build.” For a fast growing economy like the Philippines, an updated and modernized infrastructure is seen as a way to boost more growth that is more inclusive.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s administration rolled out its plan to build better infrastructure. The Build, Build, Build program includes construction and renovation of roads, bridges, flood control solutions, airports, mass transit solutions, seaport terminals, and railways in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. It is expected that public spending in infrastructure projected will reach P8 to 9 trillion from 2017 to 2022, according to www.build.gov.ph.

With the help of government agencies such as the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Transportation ( DoTr), The Bases Conversion and Development Authority ( BCDA), the administration is confident that this big undertaking will have the support that it needs to accomplish the projects.

“Build, Build, Build because common sense will tell you that it is the infrastructure that will do the connectivity and mobility. Connectivity amongst LGUs. Connectivity amongst places. And mobility amongst one place to another,” DoTr Secretary Arthur Tugade described the project at a press conference in 2016.

A big component of the government’s Build, Build, Build program is its focus on creating roads that will decongest the country’s major roads and give its citizens and businesses better opportunities to be productive.

One of the projects in implementation in Luzon is the NLEx and SLEx Connector Road that “once completed, is expected to decongest traffic in Metro Manila by providing an alternative to C-5 Road, Efipanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA), and other major thoroughfares, and cut the travel time between NLEx and SLEx to 15-20 minutes which today takes more than an hour.”

Other projects are the NAIA Expressway Phase 2 that will connect the Skyway and the Manila-Cavite Toll Expressway, and will provide access to NAIA Terminals 1 2 and 3; NLEx Harbor Link, Segment 10, an elevated expressway that will connect McArthur Highway and C-3; and Tarlac Pangasinan- La Union Expressway, which is expected to “reduce travel time between Tarlac City and Rosario, La Union from 3.5 hours to 1 hour.”

In the Visayas region, among the projects in implementation are the Bacolod Economic Highway, a “4 lane road including 3 bridges and 2 way bike lane that would serve as an alternate circumferential road bypassing the busy Bacolod City Central Business District that lies in the interior of Bacolod City,”; and Metro Cebu Expressway, a “highway with 2 km tunnel and is divided into three segments: hway with 2 km tunnel. It is divided into three segments: Talisay- Cebu City- Mandaue (Segment 1), Consolacion-Liloan-Compostela-Danao (Segment 2), and NagaMinglanilla (Segment 3).”

In Mindanao, among the road projects in implementation are the Davao City By-pass, which will “reduce travel time from 1 hour and 44 minutes via Pan Philippine Highway and Diversion Road to 49 minutes via Davao By–pass road”; and the Mindanao Logistics Infrastructure Network, which will “improve the logistics infrastructure network in Northern Mindanao, Davao, Soccksaggen and Caraga.”

Another major component is providing mass transport system, travel hubs, and ports that will make inter city and outer city travel easier. In Luzon, there are three transportation hubs in its implementation stage, namely, Metro Manila Bus Rapid Transit - Line 1 (Quezon Avenue BRT), South Integrated Transport System, and Southwest Integrated Transport System.

An updated gateway to the cities is also seen as an important part of the Build, Build, Build program. In Luzon, the Bicol International Airport Development Project is in its implementation stage.

An updated framework for air traffic management is also being implemented through the New Communications Navigation Surveillance/ Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) Systems Development Project.

In terms of seaports, the program will pave the way for the construction and modernization of port facilities to accommodate both travel and logistic requirements.

In Luzon, among the Build, Build, Build seaport projects that have been implemented is the Cavite Barge Gateway Terminal. It is projected that the terminal will ease port congestion by providing traders an alternative route and gateway to Cavite.

The program will also cover the Modernization of the RORO Transport System in the Philippines. The project that is in its development stage will focus on three major nautical highways ( Western, Central & Eastern) and other existing RoRo route.Another seaport project under development is Central Spine RORO Alignment Project. The project aims to fix the seaport and road connections in the Batangas port and Cagayan De Oro. —