TABUK CITY, Kalinga – The Cordillera Regional Development Council (RDC-CAR) passed a resolution strongly endorsing the funding of the unpaved portions of the Bontoc-Tabuk road and the immediate replacement of the two narrow bridges in Tinglayan town in order to guarantee the convenience of motorists opting to use the roadline as an alternate route to and from the different parts of central Cordillera.
Resolution No. 06, series of 2016 cited that the Kalinga provincial government, during the first quarter meeting of the region’s policy-making body in the province last February 16, 2016, proposed for a RDC-CAR endorsement for the immediate concreting of the unpaved portions of the major roadline in the interior parts of the region and the subsequent replacement of the two narrow bridges located in Tinglaya town in order to avoid serious delays among motorists using the road as alternate route in going to and from the different parts of the Cordillera, Cagayan Valley and Iloclos Region.
It was learned that the Kalinga provincial government raised their concern over the unpaved portions of the Bontoc-Tabuk road and the immediate replacement of two narrow bridges along the national road within Tinglayan area.
The two narrow bridges, namely, Mabongis bridge and Wallis bridge, located along the 200-kilometer national road, are not reportedly in conformity to current bridge standards since said bridges are unpasable for buses due to their narrow width.
According to the RDC-CAR resolution, consultations were made with DPWH-CAR and they confirmed that the unpaved portions of the said roadline were funded during the past years but were repeatedly dropped off the list of DPWH projects due to road-right-of-way problems which hampered the implementation of the project.
DPWH-CAR reportedly committed to add in its budget for 2017 the funding of the paving of the unconcreted portions of the said road and the replacement of the two narrow bridges, provided that, the Tinglayan municipal government will certify that it will ensure that there will be no road-right-of-way problems whatsoever with the said projects.
It can be recalled that the rehabilitation of the Bontoc-Tabuk road was one of the major projects of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo under her State of the Nation Address (SONA) project that contributed in the reduction of travel time from Bontoc, Mountain Province to Tabuk City, Kalinga and vice versa from eight hours to only four hours.
The estimated funding for the two major infrastructure projects being proposed by the Kalinga provincial government hast yet to be ascertained considering that the DPWH-CAR will only pursue the conduct of the required survey and the preparation of the program of work when the Tinglayan municipal government shall have issued the certificate that such projects have no road-right-of-way problems.
The approved resolution will be forwarded to the DPWH central office for the prioritization of the aforesaid projects in their programmed infrastructure projects for next year.
By Herald Express News Team
