Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar recently announced that the interest of the private sector in building three proposed big-ticket expressways in Southern Tagalog and Central Luzon, Central Visayas, and Davao Region is being recognized and encouraged by the government.
(MARK VILLAR FACEBOOK / MANILA BULLETIN)
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has met with contractors, financing institutions, and potential investors in the latest market sounding event for the three proposed expressway projects.
These are the 226.5-kilometer Pacific Eastern Seaboard Expressway that will connect Quezon Province to Aurora Province; 73.75-kilometer Metro Cebu Expressway that will connect Cebu’s Naga City and Danao City; and the 60-kilometer Davao-Digos Expressway that will link Davao City to Digos City.
According to Villar, the market sounding exercise held on November 23 “will help the government ascertain the level of interest of the private sector to undertake the proposed projects.”
“We want to gather initial feedback from potential project sponsors, contractors, operators and financiers especially during this pandemic situation who are willing to help the government in making these high-impact projects into a reality. These roads are vital in facilitating economic improvement not just in Luzon, but also in Visayas, and Mindanao,” Villar said.
Pacific Eastern Seaboard Expressway is proposed as a coastal highway that will start from Atimonan, Quezon, traversing Mauban, Real, and Infanta Quezon and will end in Dingalan, Aurora. It will serve as a shorter alternate route between Central and South Luzon, bypassing main thoroughfares especially in the busy Mega Manila.
The Metro Cebu Expressway project is intended to serve as another north-south backbone highway that will provide a seamless traffic flow from Naga City up to Danao City. It will reduce travel time between the two cities by from the usual three hours to only one hour and 30 minutes.
Davao-Digos Expressway, on the other hand, which will start at the Bukidnon-Davao National Highway in Davao City and will end at Digos-Sultan Kudarat Road will traverse the towns of Toril and Santa Cruz and will serve as an alternative route for the Davao-Cotabato National Highway (AH26). It is aimed to provide safe and high-speed access to the North-South Mindanao Corridor.