New QC bridge to ease Novaliches traffic

Novaliches’ chronic traffic jams will soon be over with the completion of a bridge that will provide an alternate route.

Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. recently inaugurated the Katipunan Bridge, which spans the Tullahan River in Barangay San Bartolome.

The bridge, which cost nearly P19 million, motorists and commuters taking the Mindanao Avenue and C-5 routes now have an alternative to the traffic jam-prone Quirino Highway.

People living in Barangays Nagkaisang Nayon, San Bartolome and Novaliches in Quezon City, and those in northern Caloocan City and even neighboring towns in Bulacan can expect to save some travel time.

The Katipunan Bridge is a joint undertaking of the President’s Bridge Program and the city government. Construction began in December last year.

The project is one of two bridges constructed by the Belmonte administration in District II. The other was built at the La Mesa Eco Park in 2005.

The city government also undertook the construction of pedestrian overpasses along Commonwealth Avenue, in front of the public market and near Litex Road; along Katipunan Avenue, in front of Ateneo de Manila University, and at the Quezon Memorial Circle, fronting the Philippine Coconut Authority building.

Close to P53 million was spent for the overpasses, which were put up for the safety of pedestrians and to speed up traffic.

Since Belmonte took office in 2001, the Quezon City government took the initiative of subsidizing the development of national government infrastructure projects.

The city government poured in as much as P2.3 billion to help complete about 255 major projects.