A new arterial road in the Province of Bulacan aimed at shortening travel time to and from North Luzon Expressway via a new interchange at Brgy. Burol 2nd, Balagtas to the Philippines - Japan Friendship Highway in Brgy. Maasim, San Rafael, Bulacan has been opened.
DPWH Secretary Mark A. Villar with Minister Keiichi Ishii of the Government of Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Embassy of Japan in the Philippines Ambassador Koji Haneda and their entourage travelled the two (2) lanes Plaridel Bypass Road Project including the 1,121-meters bridge spanning the scenic Angat River to formally inaugurate on Monday, April 30, 2018 Phase II of the 24.61-kilometers Arterial Road Bypass Project.
The arterial road alignment traversed five (5) municipalities of Bulacan namely, Balagtas, Guiguinto, Plaridel, Bustos and San Rafael bypassing the perennial traffic congestion at the core urban areas along Philippines - Japan Friendship Highway also called Maharlika Highway road section from Plaridel, Pulilan and Baliuag to San Rafael.
Completed under the supervision of Undersecretary Emil K. Sadain of DPWH Unified Project Management Office (UPMO) Operations & Technical Services and Project Director Virgilio C. Castillo of DPWH UPMO - Roads Management Cluster I, Plaridel Bypass Road can accommodate 15,000 vehicles per day and cut travel time between NLEX-Balagtas to Maharlika Highway in San Rafael by as much as 30 minutes.
Opening of the entire Plaridel Bypass Road will facilitate a more convenient movement of goods and services to and from Metro Manila towards eastern part of Bulacan and adjacent Nueva Ecija province.
Funded by the Government of the Philippines (GOP) and Government of Japan through Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) financing, Plaridel Bypass Road Project Phase II involves the construction of Contract Package 3 covering a length of 2.22 kilometers and Contract Package 4 with a length of 7.74 kilometers.
Contract Package 3 in the amount of P1.2 Billion under Shimizu Corp.– F.F. Cruz & Co., Inc. (JV) started on July 2014 includes the construction of majestic 1,121 meters bridge spanning Angat River with 7 span pre-stressed concrete continuous box girder by balance cantilever method, construction of Bridge No. 9 with a length of 40.86 meters, 1,063 meters road paving with 300 millimeters thick portland concrete cement, and four (4) units of reinforced concrete box culvert.
Under contract with C.M. Pancho Construction Inc. in the amount of P562.322 Million, Contract Package 4 involves road construction on a built-up embankment with an average height of 2 to 3 meters, cement treated base of 200 millimeter thickness, 7 meters width portland concrete cement pavement of 300 millimeter thickness, construction of one (1) single span pre-stressed concrete deck girder bridge (Bridge No. 10) with a length of 36.86 meters, and 11 units of reinforced concrete box culvert. CP 4 was started in May 2016 and completed ahead of the July 2018 schedule following relentless monitoring of activities by DPWH and construction engineering consultants Renardet and Nippon Engineering with Landtec Japan, Urban Integrated Consultants, and Design Science Inc.
"The inauguration event for Plaridel Bypass Road Project Phase II also marks the beginning of works for the widening from two (2) lanes to four (4) lanes of this arterial road with Secretary Villar with the Japanese officials leading the groundbreaking ceremony of Plaridel Bypass Road Project Phase III," Villar said.
"With the Plaridel Bypass Road now serving as a key link to the growth corridor connecting the eastern part of Bulacan with Metro Manila and agricultural zones of the adjacent Province of Nueva Ecija, the need to upgrade and expand through widening the carriageway of Plaridel Bypass Road is obvious which DPWH will be already doing under the Build Build Build program of the President Rodrigo R. Duterte administration," he added.
Plaridel Bypass Road Project Phase III will also be funded under an extended financial assistance of JICA to the Philippines through loan agreement PH-P266 amounting 9.399 Billion Japanese Yen signed on February 2018.
The Shimizu Corp.– F.F. Cruz & Co., Inc. (JV) gets a new P1.092 Billion contract to undertake widening works for segment of the bypass covered by CP3 with a total length of 2.22 kilometers including the two (2) bridges, the 1,121 meters crossing Angat River and Bridge No. 9 with a length of 40.86 meters.
Phase III Contract Package 3 is planned to be completed by June 2020.