Mark Villar cites DPWH’s accomplishments

MANILA, Philippines — Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar announced that key reforms done to improve right-of-way (ROW) processes have now borne fruit. 

“Since the issuance of Department Order No. 65, which created a ROW Task Force (RTF) for each of the projects being implemented, with the director of the public private partnership service, concerned regional directors as well as UPMO project directors as heads, significant progress in ROW acquisition of certain big ticket projects included in the Build Build Build program can be seen,” Villar noted. 

“The delegation of duties and responsibilities to the different RTFs technically decentralized the ROW acquisition process. The decentralization of ROW functions was done with the end in mind of expediting the whole ROW acquisition process,” he added.

Villar noted that since the issuance of DO 65 last May, DPWH has acquired 100 percent possession of site of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) Harbor Link Project Segment 10 as of December 2018, after a span of one year and seven months.

“We are happy to announce that the NLEX Harbor Link Project will be accessible to the public by January. When this is completed, travel time from C3 in Caloocan and NLEX will be reduced to 10 minutes,” Villar noted. 

NLEX Harbor Link Segment 10 is composed of the 5.65-km elevated expressway traversing the NLEX from MacArthur Highway Karuhatan, Valenzuela City, passing through Malabon City and C3 Road, Caloocan City and the 2.6-km section between C3 Road, Caloocan City and R10, Navotas City.

“The next phase will connect it to R-10 and reduce travel time from Port Area in Manila to Quezon City to approximately 10 minutes,” Villar noted. 

The DPWH is currently undertaking the finishing works in concreting the additional 600-meter segment which would make 2.7-kilometers of Mindanao Avenue Extension accessible within the first quarter of this year.

“The project was started in the 1980s but was stopped for decades due to right-of-way issues. We are happy that it was during the term of President Duterte that we are able to deliver this project,” he added. 

“The P118-million project which is now 87.78 percent also involves construction of drainage and slope protection, reinforced concrete box culvert and street lighting,” Villar noted.

Resumed in 2017, the construction resulted in the additional 700-meter road section from P. dela Cruz Street to MGM Road which was completed in June 2018, making 2.1 kilometers accessible to the public.

“Upon completion of the additional 600-meter segment, DPWH will be working on right-of-way issues along the missing 500-meter gap which will soon complete the full 3.2-kilometer stretch of the Mindanao Avenue Extension,” Villar said. 

“The completion of the 8-lane Mindanao Avenue Extension is our utmost priority as it will greatly reduce travel time by linking North Caloocan to the NLEX and Quezon City and improve traffic flow in the cities of Novaliches, Valenzuela and Caloocan City.”