Gov’t set to erase Cebu tag as Waze’s worst

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is ready to implement a massive expressway project in Cebu, aiming to cut road congestion in a metropolis that gained global notoriety last year after being named by a traffic app as the “worst” place to drive.

DPWH said in a statement Friday that it had already finished the feasibility study for the 74-kilometer Metro Cebu Expressway Project. The expressway has an estimated cost of P50 billion, including the acquisition of right of way.

Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar said the project would cut travel time from Naga City to Danao City by almost 60 percent or from three hours to one hour and 25 minutes.

Villar said the project, to be implemented in three segments, would be funded by the government. It is part of President Duterte’s “Build, Build, Build” program, an ambitious P8-trillion infrastructure modernization initiative that covers new roads, airports and railway systems.

Based on its website, the Metro Cebu Expressway project would start next year and should be completed toward the end of 2022, or after Mr. Duterte’s term.

Cebu is among the fastest growing provinces in the country. But transport infrastructure, especially in the Metro Cebu area, has failed to keep up.

In 2016, Cebu City was placed at the top of a global survey by Google’s Waze app that revealed the “worst places in the world to be a driver.” Analyzing the experience of users across 185 cites around the globe, the survey took into account traffic density, road safety and infrastructure.

The private sector has responded in other ways. Metro Pacific Investments Corp. is starting work this year on the P28-billion Cebu-Cordova bridge project, which would provide an alternative route to motorists when it is completed by 2020.

The DPWH said more projects were being planned in Cebu, citing the construction of the Guadalupe-Lahug bypass road, which has a total length of 1.61 kilometers.

“The project with an estimated cost of P500 million will shorten travel time from Barangay Guadalupe to Barangay Lahug by 50 percent from one hour to only 30 minutes,” Villar said.