LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – The municipal government and the Department of Public Works and Highways–First Benguet District Engineering Office (DPWH-FBDEO) will be conducting more consultations with the concerned stakeholders to elicit their suggestions and recommendations on the proposed rehabilitation and upgrading of the Pines Park bridge that links Barangay Lubas and Central Balili to the main highway along Km. 4 in front of a famous mall.
Mayor Romeo K. Salda stated one of the major issues that needs to be addressed by the concerned government agencies is the private properties that will be affected if the bridge deck will be designed to extend up to the level of the main highway.
He added that it will now be up to the DPWH-FBDEO to determine if these potentially affected private properties were constructed within the road-right-of-way so that the government can pursue the implementation of the project based on the project design and standards to avoid the unnecessary delays in the improvement of the bridge.
The DPWH-FBDEO intends to replace the wooden structure of the Pines Park bridge with a concrete one having a length of around 43 lineal meters that will prolong its life span and ensure the overall safety of motorists and pedestrians using the bridge.
Earlier, private property owners opposed the earlier plan of the implementing agency to extend the concrete bridge deck to connect with the main highway along Km. 4 as they allege this will affect their properties and businesses operating within their buildings.
Mayor Salda underscored the greater interest of the populace should prevail, especially the ones that regularly pass through the area.
Benguet caretaker congressman and Anti-Crime and Terrorism through Community Involvement and Support (ACT-CIS) Party-list Rep. Eric Yap sourced from the public works department some P80 million under the agency’s annual budget for this year to implement the rehabilitation and upgrading of the Pines Park bridge and for the replacement of the wooden structure to a concrete one, aside from widening.
Motorists and pedestrians expressed their all-out support to the plan of the implementing agency to extend the concrete bridge deck up to the main highway because it will be more convenient for them to maneuver compared to the present situation where they have to go down to a certain level and then go up to the bridge.
The implementing agency is finalizing the plans and specifications of the project to ensure the proposed structure conforms to the standards of bridges of the same type.
