Students and residents in Laguna can now traverse an alternative access going to the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) Campus with the Department of Public Works and Highways’ (DPWH) opening of a newly concrete paved highway connecting Pili Drive, Institute of Plant Breeding (IPB) Road to Gov. F.T. San Luis Road.
“Spanning about 3.8 kilometers, the APEC Road, which started construction during the administration of President Ramos is finally complete and provides a direct access to and from Los Banos and Bae,” Villar noted.
“With the completion of the APEC Road, travel time from Los Banos to Bae has been reduced to 10 mins,” Villar added.
Officially inaugurated on Wednesday, November 20, 2019 by DPWH Secretary Mark A. Villar, U.P. President Danilo Concepcion and UPLB Chancellor Dindo Sanchez, the project is said to provide access to places in Los Baños and Bay and resolve bottleneck traffic along Calamba - Sta. Cruz - Famy Junction Road and Daang Maharlika Road.
“From the onset, we have been trying to improve access to the university from both a physical and socioeconomic point of view. It is our priority to ensure that more infrastructure are built to address the increasing infrastructure gap,” Concepcion noted.
“This is only one of the many projects included in the master plan to ensure that the university has sufficient implements to attain its full potential as a premier academic institution,” he added.
Secretary Villar, Pres Concepcion and Chancellor Sanchez also led the ribbon cutting ceremony for the opening of a 60-meter pre-stressed concrete girder bridge connecting Victoria M. Ela Avenue to Rambutan Road and the construction of 300-meter road that connects Rambutan Road to Pili Drive.
"This bridge replaces the old one which was destroyed by Typhoon Milenyo. It also decongests traffic within the area and provide an access point to Pili Drive, APEC Road and IPB Road", Villar area.
Pres Concepcion and Villar also inaugurated housing for the faculty and staff of UP Open University.
“It is high time that we took better care of the universities’ primary driving force,” Concepcion said.
“The convergence program of the DPWH and UP is meant to improve and support the objective of UP in achieving its full potential as the country’s national university,” Villar said.