CEBU CITY—While the government is considering building another bridge here to further provide ease of transport in the bustling metropolis, Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) on Thursday started the construction of an expressway bridge that will link the island of Mactan and the provincial capital.
On the sidelines of the piling-works ceremony held in the southern part of the city, Public Works Secretary Mark A. Villar said his agency is in talks with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) for the completion of the study for a “Cebu Fourth Bridge.”
“We are doing something for the Cebu Fourth Bridge, which is currently being studied by Jica. We are still finalizing the alignment, but we may implement this because studies show this could help further decongest the traffic in Cebu,” he said.
Villar noted the facility will “most likely” be constructed in the northern part of Cebu, and connected to the port area in Mactan Island.
The government is looking at tapping an official development assistance (ODA) package to finance the project.
Villar did not disclose which nation the Philippines is looking at for the country-to-country loan.
“We are hoping we can finish this by 2022,” he said, adding the Jica study has taken into account the construction of the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway.
Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. President Rodrigo E. Franco said the proposed bridge will not have an adverse effect of the company’s expressway bridge, expected to be completed in three years.
“It will be in the north, where the new international port is. Hence, it will not have an effect on us, since our bridge is in the south,” he said.
CCLEC, a unit of Metro Pacific, started the piling works for the so-called toll bridge on Thursday.
“The toll bridge is very important for us because in the Philippines, it’s our first expressway project outside of Luzon. We are now expanding into the Visayas,” Franco said.
The P26-billion toll road, an 8.5-kilometer stretch, is envisioned to have two lanes in each direction, and will feature the main navigation span bridge, along with viaduct approach bridges, a causeway, roadway and toll facilities.
The span of the bridge allows for shipping traffic and the link is expected to serve at least 40,000 vehicles daily. It will give Cordova direct access to Cebu City and is envisioned to decongest traffic in the two existing bridges between Mactan and Cebu.
Aside from providing travel efficiency, the facility is seen to help spur economic growth and boost investments not just in Cebu City and the municipality of Cordova, but also in the entire Cebu province and Visayas region.
Metro Pacific President Jose Ma. K. Lim said his group is committed to deliver the infrastructure by March 16, 2021, touted as the 500th year of the birth of Christianity in the Philippines.
“We assure we will deliver as promised by 2021. This is the first major project that Metro Pacific will execute with a local government, and not the national government,” he said.
Cebu Link Joint Venture—a partnership among Spanish company Acciona Construccion SA, and Filipino corporations First Balfour Inc. and DM Consunji Inc.—won the P22.6-billion design-and-build contract for the project.
When finished, the facility will be the first expressway bridge with a cable-stayed design.
Franco said toll rate for the whole 8.5-km bridge, which will cut travel time from Mactan to Cebu City by half to 10 minutes, will be roughly P89 for the whole stretch, an amount spelled out in the concession agreement.
Initial traffic volume is expected to be at 40,000 vehicles per day.
Franco said his group will close financing for the bridge’s construction by August. The company is looking at closing P19 billion worth of syndicated loans from local banks.
While the company is constructing the bridge, Franco said his group is also conducting research for other possible expressway projects in Cebu.
“We are looking at other possible alignment for new expressways in Cebu,” he said. “We’d like to start from one project and see how it will complement others potentially.”
Infrastructure conglomerate Metro Pacific is the largest toll-road company in the Philippines, and has interests in expressway operators in Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia.