CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga (PIA) -- Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will implement a total of 2,452 projects in Central Luzon this year.
 
P98.47 billion was earmarked for these under the 2023 General Appropriations Act.
 
DPWH Regional Director Roseller Tolentino disclosed that Central Luzon received a 35.24 percent increase in this year's budget compared to the P72.3 billion released in 2022.
 
“Our big-ticket connectivity projects have been given appropriate funding to ensure that these access and bypass roads are fully operational at the earliest. Right now, we are in full swing with the construction of the Lubao-Guagua-Minalin-Sto. Tomas (LGMST) Bypass Road in Pampanga and the Palihan-Mabiga-Morong-SBMA Access Road in Bataan,” he explained.
 
DPWH eyes completion of the San Ildefonso-San Rafael-San Miguel Bypass Road in Bulacan and Capas-Botolan Road in Tarlac and Zambales by 2025, while the road opening for the P26.12 billion, 68.04-kilometer Dingalan-Doña Remedios Trinidad Road in Aurora and Bulacan has already begun.
 
“We are bent on improving connectivity within the industrial areas of the region so we have proposed to the Regional Development Council the construction of a four-lane road that will link via an east-west lateral alignment the towns of Lubao and Arayat in Pampanga,” Tolentino added.
 
Meanwhile, the proposed Sto.Tomas-Arayat Bypass Road in Pampanga will start from the planned Sto. Tomas Interchange of the North Luzon Expressway which is part of LGMST Bypass Road, passing through the towns of Candaba and Sta Ana and end in Arayat.
 
Tolentino revealed that in the total budget received by DPWH offices in Central Luzon, the Regional Office was allocated P1.3 billion to spend for the development of important public structures under its jurisdiction.
 
These include replacement of weak bridges along national roads, and construction of bypass roads, multipurpose facilities, and flood mitigation structures.
 
“We are also set to begin the rehabilitation of existing traffic signals at major intersections along Manila North Road and Jose Abad Santos Avenue,” the official furthered.
 
The agency will carry out the restoration of traffic signals on major roads in the region to assist local government units in their traffic management program. (CLJD-PIA 3)