38,000 travelers to pass daily P1.885-B new Urdaneta road

By Liezle Basa Inigo

URDANETA, Pangasinan – Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark A. Villar led Jan. 18 opening of the Urdaneta by-pass road, which is expected to address the traffic created during peak hours along the Manila North Road here.
    According to Villar, the Urdaneta by-pass road, completed at a cost of P1.885 billion, will reduce travel time from one hour to 30 minutes between Villasis and Binalonan towns.
    He added about 30,000 motorists, who travel along the route every day, will benefit from the by-pass road.
    The road has a total length of 7.17 kilometers, and crosses two major road intersections of Urdaneta-Dagupan Road and Urdaneta-Manaoag Provincial Road.
    During the project briefing, DPWH Region 1 Director Ronnel M. Tan said the project involved construction of six lanes of portland concrete cement pavement, including sidewalk, drainage and slope protection, and installation of solar streetlights.
    Four permanent bridges were also built along the bypass road.
    These bridges are the 90.90-meter Macalong Bridge, the 70.90-meter Mitura Bridge 1, the 36.76-meter Mitura Bridge 2, and the 60.90-meter Camantiles Bridge.
    Meanwhile, it was also learned that the construction of bike lanes as an off-carriageway improvement will be undertaken as part of future developments of the bypass road, in line with DPWH social responsibility and environmental preservation program.