Business
Villar Opens P493.9-M Infra Projects in La Union
Secretary Mark A. Villar of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) led on Monday the inauguration of major infrastructure projects in La Union with a total worth of P493. 9 million.
The newly-opened infrastructure projects are the 14.24-kilometer Aringay-Tubao Alternate Road and the 360-lineal meter Anduyan Bridge in Tubao, La Union.
Villar, along with Tubao Mayor Dante Garcia, DPWH Region 1 Director Ronnel M. Tan, and Department of Tourism (DOT) Region 1 Director Martin Valera conducted the inaugural drive through of the roads to signal the formal opening.
The Anduyan Bridge will facilitate the scenic travel to Asin Hot Spring in Tubao, Benguet, and Baguio City.
In his message, Villar assured that more infrastructure projects would be expected to finish this year and to be started next year under the “Build, Build, Build” Program of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.
According to him, the Candon City bypass road in Ilocos Sur and the Laoag City bypass road in Ilocos Norte are expected to opened by the end of this year.
He said the Duterte administration through the DPWH has relentless effort to construct more infrastructure projects in the future benefiting the Filipino citizens.
Meanwhile, Tan said the Aringay-Tubao Alternate Road involves the construction and improvement of 14.24 kilometers road section along Aringay- Tubao, La Union; while the Anduyan Bridge along Anduyan-Rizal-San Pascual-Nangalesan-Asin Road is a construction of 360 lineal meter bridge.
He said the infrastructure projects under the convergence program of the DPWH and the DOT have a total contract amount of P493. 9 million.
“Through this project, the travel time from La Union to Asin Hot Spring, Tuba, Benguet will be reduced from 2 hours to 35 minutes; and the travel time from Tubao, La Union to Baguio City will be lessened from 2 hours 25 minutes to 1 hour,” said Tan.
“Long before the construction of Anduyan Bridge, the people from Barangay Rizal and Alog East in Tubao, La Union used bamboo raft to cross the Aringay River,” he said.
Tan said the opening to traffic of this vital infrastructure project will ease travel of tourists going to Asin Hot Spring, which is one of the tourist spots in Tuba, Benguet.
“The project will also lessen the congestion of traffic along Agoo-Baguio City Road or widely known as Marcos Highway and will provide faster mobility of manpower and government services,” said Tan.
La Union Governor Francisco Emmanuel Ortega III expressed his deepest gratitude to the Duterte administration and the DPWH for the realization of the project.
Ortega said the newly opened infrastructure project is greatly beneficial to the people of La Union. (JNPD/FGL/PIA-1)