Cabanatuan, Sta Rosa to jointly build Angeles Highway
The pestering traffic gridlock in that stretch of Cagayan Valley Road between Cabanatuan City and Sta. Rosa, Nueva Ecija will soon be a thing of the past, with the signing of a Memorandum Of Agreement between the local government of Cabanatuan City represented by Mayor Jay Vergara and the local government of Sta. Rosa represented by Mayor Josefi na Angeles.
Under the MOA, Cabanatuan and Sta. Rosa have agreed to jointly undertake the improvement of the existing 4,114- linear meter long Emilio Vergara Cesar Angeles Highway so it can be used as an alternative road from Cabanatuan to Sta. Rosa and vice versa.
The project which involves concreting, construction of drainage canals and putting up of slope protection on the alternative road is divided into four phases, Cabanatuan City Engineer Lauro Pangilinan said.
Phase 1 which has a length of 1,034 linear meters will start from the Minatula Bridge in Sumacab Este, Cabanatuan City and end in Barangay Soledad, Sta. Rosa. The total project cost is P15.7 million.
Cabanatuan and Sta. Rosa’s joint road improvement venture is in consonance with the provision of the Local Government Code which allows local government units to group themselves, consolidate and coordinate their efforts, services and resources for purposes commonly beneficial to them, according to Mayor Vergara.
The project would decongest and/or divert traffic from the bottleneck corner of Maharlika Highway Sta. RosaTarlac Road and ease travel to Cabanatuan City now drawing huge number of investors.
Retail giant SM Prime Holdings, Inc. is expected to open in the city this year, joining Robinsons, Waltermart, Puregold, S &R Membership Shoppings, Verga said.