Mikey steps into interchange row

ANGELES CITY – Presidential son Rep. Mikey Arroyo appealed yesterday for “sobriety and calm” among various parties at odds over where an interchange should be built as part of the almost complete P27.5-billion Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX).

Arroyo appealed to them “to avoid divisiveness and animosity and to settle the issues with only the best interests of our country in mind.” 

“Let us not allow this controversy to divide our leaders and people in our province,” he added.

There are at least three proposals where to locate the interchange. Sen. Lito Lapid has proposed that it be built at Hacienda Dolores in his Porac hometown, while first district Rep. Carmelo Lazatin and Subic-Clark Alliance Development Council chairman Edgardo Pamintuan want it within the Clark Freeport.

Lapid, though, reportedly supports the proposal of Lazatin and Pamintuan.

For its part, the Advocacy for the Development of Central Luzon (ADCL), composed of groups of local businessmen claiming to have the support of Pampanga Gov. Eddie Panlilio, has batted for the interchange to be built in Barangay Manuali at the boundary of Porac and Angeles City.

But Arroyo reminded the three parties that during their last meeting at the Presidential Management Staff (PMS) office, they all agreed “to allow the PMS to submit its objective analysis of the respective positions of various contending groups, within two weeks,” or by Nov. 5.

“In the interim, I appeal for sobriety and calm to all concerned and to avoid any more statements that may exacerbate the situation. I am confident that the final report on this issue will focus on the technical soundness of the proposal and that the project will be at the least cost to the government,” he said.

In a report, the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA), the proponent of the SCTEX project which is slated to be fully finished by March next year, estimated that P260 million would be needed for the interchange proposal of Lapid, P282 million for ADCL’s, and P313 million for Lazatin’s.

This is apart from the P216 million for road approaches for Lapid’s interchange, P224 million for ADCL’s, and P264 million for Lazatin’s. 

Both Lapid and Lazatin offered to fund their proposals with their pork barrel, while the ADCL said the provincial government and the Department of Public Works and Highways have committed funding for its proposal.

Meanwhile, officials of the Clark Development Corp. (CDC) and the Metro Clark Advisory Council (MCAC), composed of executives of towns around the Clark Freeport, found out that the BCDA failed to include any “emergency bay” or emergency parking area across the entire 93.7-kilometer span of the SCTEX.

This means that vehicles that break down along the expressway would not have enough space for emergency parking while undergoing repairs, while those that figure in accidents would have to be towed to the nearest exists to avoid traffic buildup.

“We need to look into this (oversight) and revisit the plan,” said CDC president and chief executive officer Liberato Laus after BCDA representatives Jesus Tuadles and Brando Aguiler confirmed that SCTEX has no provision for emergency bays.

During a briefing on the SCTEX, Tuadles said the four-lane expressway would be provided with a two-meter shoulder clearance.

He said Package II of the expressway project from Clark to Tarlac has provisions for two motorpool areas with an area of seven hectares each.

Laus, however, said the two motorpool areas could not make up for the absence of emergency bays which should have been at certain intervals along the SCTEX.

“There must be emergency bay areas along the stretch, similar to those found along the North Luzon Expressway,” he said.

Tuadles told the MCAC members that SCTEX’s 50.5-kilometer Package I extending from Subic to Clark is now 86.01 percent complete, while the 43.27-kilometer Package II up to Tarlac is 95.7 percent finished.

While Package I is expected to be finished in March next year, Package II is slated to open this December.

Once finished, the entire project will comprise four major bridges, eight interchanges, 29 minor bridges, 303 drainage culverts, 44 underpasses, several toll plazas, traffic control systems, and assistance centers.