Critical Benguet road restored

TUBLAY, Benguet — After two-month struggle regarding the smooth flow of traffic in a major road network in this vegetable-producing province, thousands of residents in three Benguet towns got a sigh of relief when the Cordillera Administrative Region office of the Department of Public Works and Highways announced the restoration of vehicular traffic along the Tublay-Kapangan-Kibungan, Bakun-Buguias secondary national arterial road with the completion of a 57-meter bailey bridge in Sitio Suyoc, Barangay Kaponga here.

With the bridge already in place to facilitate a better flow of vehicular traffic, Engr Roy L. Manao, DPWH regional director, said project implementors could now focus their efforts to replace the Salakop Bridge in Kapangan one of the heavily devastated road sections.

The Tublay-Kapangan-Kibungan-Bakun-Buguias road was permanently closed to vehicular traffic after the onslaught of Typhoon “Pepeng” last October.

Manao said the new Bailey bridge, was contracted by private contractors even without the certainty of being paid the soonest for the sake of convenience for the motoring public.

The road, which serves as an alternate route for farmers via the Sinipsip-Ampusongan-Kibungan road, caused inconveniences among the motoring public after its closure because people had to transfer from one vehicle to another in the washed out road section.

To come out with the Bailey bridge, Manao said the agency had to collect various materials from other parts of Benguet which the contractor assembled on the site in preparation for the smooth flow of vehicular traffic and to allow farmers in depressed areas to transport their goods to the market. – Dexter A. See