RDC endorses repair of San Remigio road

CEBU, Philippines - Following the endorsement of the local government units, the Central Visayas Regional Development Council (RDC) has endorsed the proposed improvement of the Cebu City-San Remegio Road, otherwise known as the Cebu North Hagnaya Wharf Road.

The proposed project has been endorsed by the respective local development councils of the Province of Cebu and the cities of Cebu and Mandaue.

The RDC Infrastructure Development Committee recommended the endorsement of the project that was also approved by the RDC in their last full council meeting.

The said road has a total length of 109.45 kilometers traversing the main coastal highway along the northeastern part of Cebu and serving the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, Danao and Bogo, and the municipalities of Consolacion, Liloan, Compostela, Carmen, Catmon, Sogod, Borbon, Tabogon and San Remigio.

The feasibility study prepared by the Department of Public Works and Highways divided the road into three sections.

These are the Cebu City-Danao City (33.5 kms); Danao City-Sogod (27.9 kms); and Sogod-San Remigio (48.05 kms).

This road serves as the major trunk road along the northeastern side of the province and provides links between and among the aforementioned municipalities and cities.

The upgrading of this road is aimed towards improving the mobility of the people, goods and services, result in less vehicle operating costs and savings in travel time, promote tourism and expand economic activities within the project influence area.

Travelers from neighboring provinces of Masbate, Leyte and Samar will also benefit from this project as these provinces are connected through the Roro Ports in Bogo City and Hagnaya in San Remigio.

The original feasibility study recommended the improvement of 87.56 kilometers of road at a cost of P1.3 billion.

Based on the site verification of the route, there were already road improvements in terms of road concreting initiated by DPWH through its District Engineering Offices with an aggregate length of 51.35 kilometers funded under the General Appropriations Act of 2010 to 2012 and total cumulative investment of P812.5 million.

The remaining road sections that require improvement has a length of only 36.21 kilometers but another 13.66 kilometers of road improvement with an allocation of P232.275 million is proposed for 2013 through the DPWH regular budget.

If approved, the balance for road improvement is only 22.55 kilometers with a cost of P351.2 million. — /MIT (FREEMAN)