4th bridge gets P1.2 billion as jumpstart funding

CEBU, Philippines — The proposed fourth bridge from the mainland Cebu to Mactan Island received a P1.2 billion as initial funding next year, says Cebu First District Rep. Eduardo Gullas.

 Gullas, a member of the House appropriations committee, said the P1.2 billion is among the items in the 2021 spending program of the Department of Public Works and Highways for the construction of new bridges.

 Gullas said that in the proposed P4.5-trillion national budget for 2021, the DPWH is spending up to P13.7 billion to build new bridges across the country, including the P1.2 billion for the new Cebu-Mactan Bridge.

 “The new Cebu-Mactan Bridge and Coastal Road Construction Project is an absolutely critical component of Metro Cebu’s future infrastructure,” Gullas said in a statement.

 He said that the entire project is estimated to require up to P80 billion to complete by January 2028, “when all facilities are put into service.”

In June of this year, the Philippine and Japanese governments signed an agreement whereby Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) committed to provide up to P55.8 billion (or 119.2 billion yen) in official development assistance (ODA) loans to help finance the new bridge project.

 Gullas said the project involves the construction of a 3.3-kilometer long-span road bridge and a 4.9-kilometer coastal road, with two or three lanes in each direction.

“We need this new bridge to speed up in a big way Cebu’s shipping of raw materials and finished goods as well as the transfer of our workforces,” Gullas said.

  Citing a study by the JICA, Gullas said that Metro Cebu has been incurring P400 million in daily economic productivity losses due to growing road congestion. He said this road congestion, is being aggravated by vehicular traffic bottlenecks in the crossings between Mactan and the main island.

Mactan is home to two export-oriented manufacturing economic zones and the Mactan-Cebu International Airport, the country’s second busiest gateway, plus several world class hotels and beach resorts.

 At present, Mactan is connected to the main island of Cebu by two bridges – the 1,237-meter Marcelo Fernan Bridge opened in 1999 and the 864-meter Sergio Osmeña Bridge opened in 1972.   Both bridges span across the Mactan Channel and connect the cities of Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu.

 A third crossing – the 8.5-kilometer Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway – is already under construction that will link Cebu City and Cordova town.

 It can be recalled that the feasibility study of the fourth bridge started in December 2018 and was completed in November of last year.

 DPWH Secretary Mark Villar earlier said that the construction of the fourth bridge is necessary as Cebu needs it to further decongest the traffic. — FPL (FREEMAN)