A flyover projected to ease traffic on the national highway in Panabo City, Davao del Norte was opened to the public Thursday, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) announced.

The Panabo City flyover is 195.59-meters long with 304-meter approaches and is seen to eliminate vehicle congestion on the busy intersection of Daang Maharlika National Highway-Tadeco and Panabo Wharf Road.
It will serve incoming and outgoing traffic to and from the heart of Panabo City to neighboring towns and urban centers by lessening travel time across the intersection from 60 minutes during peak hours to just 15 minutes.
According to Undersecretary Emil Sadain, the Panabo Flyover along the north-south direction (Panabo City to Davao City) is part of the national government’s Mega Bridges for Urban and Rural Development Project which involves the nationwide construction of bridges to provide better road network along secondary national highways.
A total of P452.5 million was allocated for the construction of the flyover which utilizes the prefabricated modular steel technology of Matiere S.A.S. under the French government assistance program, Sadain said.
The DPWH Undersecretary also emphasized that the construction of the flyover “will also help reduce carbon emissions that occur due to idling of vehicles at the intersection during traffic.”
Its construction, which was divided into two phases, started in November 2018 and was completed in February this year.
The first phase involved the laying of bridge substructures, road widening, and drainage components undertaken by the DPWH Davao del Norte district office of the DPWH-Region 11 while the second phase included the construction of the double-lane bridge, 7.5 lineal meter wide consisting of five spans, two abutments, and four piers as well as road approaches undertaken by the DPWH-Unified Project Management Office Bridges Management Cluster.