3 options for road

DPWH submits Cebu Circumferential Road proposals to metro dev’t board

Proposed Cebu Circumferential Road Project is intended to cut in half the travel time from the south to Danao City in the north; Naga is being considered as a possible entry point, apart from Carcar City, which is 18 kilometers further south from Cebu City

THE public works agency is studying three options on how to implement the proposed Cebu Circumferential Road Project (CCRP), which is intended to cut travel time from the south to Danao City by half.

The City of Naga is being considered as a possible entry point for the CCRP, with its end point in Danao City in the north, about 55 kilometers away.

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) earlier proposed to start the CCRP in Carcar City, about 73 kilometers from Danao City.

But in an interview yesterday, DPWH 7 Director Ador Canlas said that as of now, the feasibility studies on all three proposals are still halfway to completion.

Nonato Paylado, DPWH 7’s chief planning and design officer, told Sun. Star Cebu that the consultancy firm Cedco is looking at three possible alignments for the project.

P80M study ongoing

The first option is to keep the CCRP close to the main urban areas of Metro Cebu.

A second option is to apply an old feasibility study conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) back in 1993, which recommended a circumferential road from Barangays Pardo to Talamban in Cebu City.

The third option is to build the circumferential road far from the urban areas.

Cedco, which won the bid to conduct the feasibility study for P80 million, may conclude their study by January next year.

Canlas said the project aims to connect the southern and northern parts of Metro Cebu, with a route adjacent to the Natalio Bacalso national highway.

“We are considering different factors such as the cost of road right-ofway acquisition and the number of properties that could be affected by the project,” Canlas said.

Paylado added that Cedco is also considering other factors before releasing the results of their feasibility study, such as how the project could affect the environment and the residents now living within the proposed construction sites.

Last March, the DPWH presented the project to the Metro Cebu Development Coordinating Board.