Bulacan road bypass project completed

MANILA, Philippines — The second phase of the Japan-funded arterial road bypass project in Bulacan has been completed ahead of schedule and is now open to the public, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) said yesterday.

The newly-completed bypass, which connects the North Luzon Expressway to the Philippine-Japan Friendship Highway in Bulacan, is a development project between JICA and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for which the Japanese government extended a loan amounting to 4.5 billion yen (about P2.1 billion) in 2012.

With the completion of the two-lane, 24.6-kilometer bypass, travel time from Manila to Bulacan would be reduced by 45 to 50 minutes. Around 15,000 of the vehicles traversing the Philippine-Japan Friendship Highway can be diverted to the bypass, reducing traffic by 40 percent.

The second phase of the project was originally slated for completion in the second semester of 2018.

“This project will help promote seamless mobility of goods and people coming from the provinces in the north and central Luzon to Metro Manila, while helping spread economic opportunities to nearby growth centers,” said JICA senior representative Tetsuya Yamada.

JICA also announced that it has already broken ground with the DPWH for the third phase of the bypass project.

The Philippine government and JICA signed the 9.399 billion yen loan agreement for the third phase of the arterial road bypass project last February.

Apart from the Plaridel Bypass Project, JICA is also supporting the construction of the 38-kilometer North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) and the 25-kilometer Metro Manila Subway connecting the north and south sides of Metro Manila.