Design, funding for P9-B bridges crossing Marikina River in the works -- Villar
The design process for the proposed trio of bridges crossing over the Marikina River is now underway, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Mark Villar bared Monday.

Undergoing "detailed engineering design" are J.P. Rizal-Lopez Jaena Bridge and Marcos Highway-St. Mary Bridge (formerly J.P. Rizal-St. Mary Bridge) both in Marikina City; and Kabayani-Katipunan Avenue Extension Bridge (formerly Marikina-Vista Real Bridge). The bridges will link Marikina and Quezon City.
As this developed, Villar said the agency and Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the projects’ loan application.
The MOU states that the overall scheduled timeline for the engineering works and the National Economic and Development Authority - Investment Coordination Committee review/ approval are identified.
The loan processing and procurement of the Metro Manila Bridges Project, which cover the three bridges, is expected to be signed in December 2021, Villar said.
The department’s Unified Project Management Office (UPMO) Bridge Management Cluster and the consulting firm Dasan JV are working on the detailed engineering design, which started in July 2020.
Concerned local government units have also expressed support for the construction of the bridges through a letter last December 2020.
The proposed J.P. Rizal-Lopez Jaena Bridge will be a steel nielsen arch bridge with a length of 687 meters and a main bridge of 460 meters. This will require an allocation of P1.61 billion.
The J.P. Rizal-St. Mary Bridge will be the longest of the three, with a length of 1,444 meters including a main bridge of 330 meters connecting J.P. Rizal Street and A. Bonifacio Avenue. It will be a pre-stressed, concrete extradosed bridge costing P5.74 billion.
Lastly, the Marikina-Vista Real Bridge will be a 940-meter, pre-stressed, concrete extradosed bridge featuring a 485-meter main bridge. It has a price tag of P1.81 billion.