The wait is over.
Dabawenyos and motorists can now access the Bago Aplaya-Tulip Drive segment of the Davao City Coastal Bypass Road following its inauguration rites presided by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Saturday.
Considered a momentous ceremony for the people of Davao City, Marcos together with Vice President Sara Duterte, Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte, Senator Imee Marcos, and Secretary Manuel Bonoan of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), led the drive-thru inauguration of the project’s first segment.
Marcos said the project aims to ease traffic congestion and sustain and even boost the economic growth that Davao City has been enjoying in the past years up to the present.
“The objective is also to make the progress more inclusive and more relevant to everyone’s daily life through a highly interconnected road network,” he said in his message.
The first phase of the project spans 7.5 kilometers from Bago Aplaya to Tulip Drive is now accessible to motorists. The project has a total length of 17.33 kilometers and is divided into four segments: Bago Aplaya to Tulip Drive, Tulip Drive to Roxas Avenue, Roxas Avenue to Sta. Ana, and Sta. Ana to Jerome, Agdao.
“And while we are only opening the first kilometers of the more-than-17-kilometer project, we expect this already to provide some relief to Mindanaoans, especially those who wish access to downtown Davao,” he said.
The President added that the opening of segment A will also help in transporting goods in and out of the city, making access to necessities easier for communities, businesses, and consumers.
“Aside from transportation, this road project also features walkways, bicycle lanes, and linear parks—public spaces that our people need for their comfort, happiness, and well-being. I can imagine already the locals and especially our tourists taking a stroll while looking at the view, feeling the breeze coming in from the coast and taking with them the energy and peace they need to go about with their daily lives, with memories of Davao City and the Philippines,” Marcos said.
In 2017, the groundwork for the said project began, however, construction was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Despite the challenges brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, we have witnessed this project slowly progressed. Six years now since the project has begun, we now stand in front of the first completed segment: the one that runs from Bago Aplaya to Times Beach, which is also the longest segment of all,” Marcos said.
He added that the project will also serve as a protection against storm surges.
Marcos also recognized and thanked the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and all the other development partners for sharing their expertise with the Philippine government to improve infrastructure.
“Everything that we have done so far—and everything that we will do from this point onwards—will all be instrumental in our collective leap forward and upward,” he said.
He also called on the DPWH to strive in finishing the remaining segments.
“Kaya’t ‘yung ating mga kasamahan sa DPWH, sige lang tuloy-tuloy lang ‘yung ipinakita niyong napakagandang trabaho dito sa unang bahagi nitong coastal road ay patuloy natin ipakita para mabilis matapos, maganda sa budget, at makatulong sa taong-bayan. Let us do it within the schedule so that our people may reap and truly enjoy the maximum benefits of your hard work,” he said.
DPWH 11 reported in January this year that it will also start the construction of the Bucana Bridge this year, which will connect Times Beach to the Bucana area.
The P3.11-billion bridge will be funded through a China government grant, with the agreement signed by the Chinese Embassy in Manila and DPWH in December 2020.
The bridge project is under the Unified Project Management Office (UPMO) of DPWH and is still in the procurement stage.
The Davao City Coastal Bypass Road is among the major projects under the Build, Build, Build Program of the Duterte administration. Among its objectives is to promote suburban development and to decongest the city center which will serve as a bypass road or an alternative route to Davao-Cotabato Road.
It is expected to reduce travel time from 45 minutes to 15 minutes when traversing from the Toril area to the city proper.
Meanwhile, the President did not forget to recognize and thanked former president Rodrigo Duterte, who failed to attend the inauguration.
“Also, of extreme importance to the completion of this project, we must acknowledge my predecessor, someone who was a central part — instrumental, central part to bringing us here all today, the former President, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte,” he said.
