The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) have completed the rehabilitation of two rod projects, which it said, are now providing the motorists with safer and more comfortable travel within the Freeport Area of Bataan (FAB) vicinity.
DPWH Regional Office 3 Director Roseller A. Tolentino said that the Visayas Avenue and Zigzag Road in Barangay Malaya, in Mariveles town inside the FAB were the roads recently upgraded by the DPWH Bataan Second District Engineering Office (DEO).
He noted that the 733-lineal-meter section of Visayas Avenue was rehabilitated at a cost of P32.98 million where asphalt overlay on the four-lane tertiary road was done with road safety signages and reflectorized pavement markings also being included.
Tolentino explained that the road improvement on Visayas Avenue is intended not only to provide motorists with safe and convenient travel but also to maintain the structural integrity of the existing road.
The DPWH Central Luzon chief added that the 108-linear-meter concrete slope protection varying from 12 to 15 meters in height along the Zigzag Road was stabilized with sheet pile footings and successfully rehabilitated to prevent erosion-induced slope failure along the road’s landslide-prone sections.
Also part of the P24.5-million rehabilitation project, Tolentino stated are the painting of wheel guards and installation of street lights to optimize safety of residents passing the mountainous stretch of the road that connects the first-class municipalities of Mariveles and Limay in the Province of Bataan.
Funded under the 2022 General Appropriations Act (GAA), the completion of the projects will benefit the growing number of motorists requiring a more reliable road network that connects Mariveles town proper to Bataan's premiere freeport.
“The DPWH will continue to implement road asset preservation and rehabilitation projects to attract more investors in prime economic zones in the country including the FAB which currently serves as a hub for major industrial companies such as as port operators, power plant, oil depot, and bulk grain terminals,’’ DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan assured.