Leyte-based firm to build Mandaue underpass

An underpass project in Mandaue that will be undertaken through a design-and-build scheme has been awarded to BM Marketing Corp. It is a component of the proposed tri-level intersection improvement at the corner of UN Ave. and Plaridel St., Mandaue City, said Engr. Ador Canlas, director of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) 7.

Canlas made the clarifica- tion after Regional Development Council ( RDC) 7 Chairman Kenneth Cobonpue urged DPWH to call for a public debate on the project.

Cobonpue said it is not good that DPWH, whose officials are mostly from Luzon, will just implement projects in Cebu without public consultation, and close the road for three years without providing an alternative.

Cobonpue said that the Ce- buanos do not even know the background of BM Marketing of Leyte or whether it has a good track record in implementing projects.

Canlas said that the underpass was originally proposed by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation ( JBIC) Arterial Road Phase VI in 2004 and the bank would have funded it through a loan.

But once the yen loan was de- ferred, the underpass, including the proposed tri-level intersection improvement, was set aside.

Canlas said that DPWH, however, included some of the project components in its Medium Term Public Investment Program (MTPIP) since 2008 for possible implementation using other sources of funds.

Funds were eventually provided for the structure of the project through the General Appropriations Acts (GAA) of 2016 and 2017.

DPWH Secretary Mark Villar authorized DPWH 7 to procure services for the project during the four quarter of 2017 using the design and build scheme.

“The notice to proceed was (already) issued to the contractor (BM Marketing) last Dec. 4, 2017,” Canlas said.

At present, the project is on design stage that will last until June 2018.

Activities under this stage include the conduct of topographic, parcellary and soil exploration surveys, preparation of plans and specifications, and acquisition of road right- of-way, including preparation of traffic management.

He said that aside from the four-lane underpass, DPWH will also add two lanes on both sides to make it a total of eight lanes.