Excavation for Banilad flyover to begin Friday
If preliminary works for the Banilad flyover project will go smoothly, the public can expect excavation to start by Friday, which means heavy traffic along
Councilor Sylvan “Jack” Jakosalem, member of the City Traffic Operations Management Board, said WTG Construction targets to finish the layouting and cutting of the road’s surface tomorrow, and by nighttime heavy equipment would be brought to the construction site to begin excavation.
Once excavation starts, Citom would then implement the one-lane scheme wherein only one lane would be passable from the city proper going towards barangay Talamban and vice versa. Currently, works are being done at the stretch from the
To avoid congestion at the construction site, Jakosalem said they will be allowing vehicles from the BTC to directly turn left towards the city proper. Currently, vehicles that exit from the BTC would have to turn right towards barangay Banilad proper before these could make a U-turn going towards the city proper.
Meanwhile, Banilad barangay captain Malou Tabar said they are ready for the start of excavation. In fact, she said, even those tanods that are not directly assigned at the construction site are on call anytime when more personnel are needed at the site.
“From day one, we were already expecting for the one-lane scenario so our personnel are always prepared,” Tabar said.
Jakosalem had said that despite the threat of heightened traffic congestion, the scenario would not be as bad as many think it would be as long as traffic personnel are present in the area.
“The state of pessimism and hopelessness seems to be caused by our reaction…rest assured that Citom will be alert and reactive to traffic situations and strategies that may need to change, as the need arises and as construction activities increase,” he said.
Construction of the flyover started last week despite a move of the City Council to postpone its implementation.
Both the Department of Public Works and Highways and Mayor Tomas Osmeña shrugged off the call for postponement with the latter saying that the construction has been postponed long enough.
Construction was supposed to start fourth quarter of last year, but was stalled owing to the drastic increase in zonal valuation such that the DPWH would need P50 million more to acquire the road right of way.
The flyover project would need 4,200 square meters for the road right of way alone.
But the Senate and the House of Representatives approved the report of the bicameral conference committee on the 2008 national budget with amendments - among which is the additional P50 million for the flyover - just four days before the scheduled start of construction last February 1.
The 390-meter flyover stretches from near the
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