SAN RAFAEL, Bulacan -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo recently led the groundbreaking of the more than P1-billion, 85.5-km. 3rd Bulacan Circumferential Road Network in Bgy. Coral na Bato, San Rafael, Bulacan.
Joining the President were DPWH Sec. Hermogenes Ebdane, Bulacan 3rd District Rep. Lorna C. Silverio, and local officials led by Mayor Ricardo C. Silverio of San Rafael.
Silverio, the main proponent of the road network, said at least Pl00 million of the fund has initially been released by the DPWH for the mega-project that will be completed in the first quarter of 2010.
The road project, which forms part of Silverio’s “Integrated Area Development Plan” for the third district, was inspired by her legislator-predecessor -- her spouse, San Rafael Mayor Ricardo C. Silverio -- who had wanted a long-term plan to transform the area.
The circumferential road will lead people to the soon-to-be-opened San Rafael Government Center, seen to serve as a one-stop shop for transactions with the government in the area. This center will meet the growing requirements of industries and business enterprises that have already set up shops in the vicinity, led by Sharp Philippines and Japanese investors, she said.
The road is an answer to the growing needs for travel to and within the area, with the current boom in housing development and the expansion of the province’s state university located in San Rafael.
Primarily, however, Silverio said, the road project is aimed at creating new access points to agriculture and mineral-rich locations at the foothills of Sierra Madre, besides connecting these to the mainstream of development.
Citing DPWH Region III office, she said the total budget for the road project is P1.10-B. It will cover 85.5 kilometer network in Miguel, San Rafael, San Ildefonso, Angat, Doña Remedios Trinidad and Norzagaray, which cover 64 percent of Bulacan’s total land area.
She said the circumferential road augments the Pan-Philippine Highway, besides opening new links to this old main highway in three strategic locations -- San Rafael, San Ildefonso and San Miguel. The network combines national, provincial and barangay roads to deliver products from these towns-to-markets and end-users in neighboring provinces and Metro Manila.
“Matagal nang pinapangarap ng mga taga-ikatlong distrito ang proyektong ito para mas maging magaan at mabilis ang pagbibiyahe ng kanilang mga produkto,” said Mayor Silverio.
“Mabuti na lang at itinaguyod ni Lorna,” the mayor said referring to the congresswoman’s efforts in securing approval for the project, along with the P3.068-B arterial bypass road project that will connect San Rafael to Guiguinto town where the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) passes through.
Before this project, Rep. Silverio explained, the interior areas of the third district suffered from lack of reliable transport system and vital infrastructure, which also limited the area’s economic capability.
“The construction and improvement of the circumferential road network would catalyze the needed development in the area,” she stressed.
“The network combines national, provincial and barangay roads to deliver produce from these towns to markets and end-users in neighboring provinces and Metro Manila,” she said.
She expressed confidence that this road network will make eastern Bulacan the next investment and tourism destination in the province, with its promising agro-industrial potential.
“That means more jobs to be generated and more economic activity in eastern Bulacan. Besides, the Third Bulacan Circumferential Road Network will also form a vital component of the Metro Luzon Urban Beltway Super-Region of President Arroyo, who has lent it her unstinting support,” Silverio said.
[ Published by : Journal.com.ph ] February 4, 2008
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