DAVAO CITY—For 45-year-old businessman Andrew Remolona it would take around two hours of travel from his home in Mintal, Davao City to their convenience store in Babak, Island Garden City of Samal.
“Grabe, nung wala pang coastal road it would take me two hours, tapos waiting time sa barge another one to two hours especially pag peak days or kung sira ang barge,” Remolona said.
(Horrible when there no coastal road it would take me two hours then the waiting time for the barge add another one to two hours especially during peak days or when the barge conks out.)
The opening of the Davao City Coastal Road (Bago Aplaya-Tulip Drive segment) has cut his travel time by about 20 minutes.
“Kung matapos na yang coastal road papuntang R. Castillo mas maging mabilis ang biyahe,” says Remolona who goes to the island three to four times a week managing the family-owned 24/7 convenience store.
(If the coastal road is completed it would really make my travel time faster)
And one that would make his 30-kilometer trip much faster would be the completion of the Samal Island-Davao City Connector Bridge.
Currently, he takes the DavSam link ferry whose terminal is farther than the larger and more popular Mae Wess but is less crowded, lesser waiting time and cheaper.
Remolona says that Samal needs the bridge particularly for businessmen like him who are engaged in the selling of perishable food and items.
“In the nature of our business, we are really dependent on transportation since our deliveries are every other day and since we are dealing with perishable items like food the waiting time at the barge is very critical,” Remolona said.
Samal Island bridge update
According to Engineer Rodrigo Delos Reyes, project director Bridge Management Cluster- Unified Project Management Office of the Department of Public Works and Highways (UPMO-DPWH) said the Samal Island-Davao City Connector Bridge will cut the long travel time going to the island.
“It will just take five minutes to cross the bridge,” says Delos Reyes.
The barge trip will take around 20 to 25 minutes and this excludes the waiting time for a vehicle to enter the barge.
Also, the end point of the Davao City Coastal Road will be near the SIDC bridge approach in R. Castillo- Arroyo street making the island much more accessible to those from the southern part of the city like Remolona as they could use the coastal road to avoid the traffic bottlenecks in the Davao City proper.
“Sa R. Castillo mismo yung akyatan papuntang bridge,” says Delos Reyes.
(At R. Castillo is the bridge approach)
At the present the much-awaited civil works for the SIDC Bridge has commenced.
“Etong Samal Island-Davao City Connector Bridge sa ngayon as to percentage ay nasa 4.197 percent completion rate. Eto po ay isang design-and-build project at ang construction po ay lately natin ginawa kasi inuna nati ang design. Nasa 94 percent na ang ating design at matatapos ito inaasahan natin by July,” Delos Reyes said.
(This Samal Island-Davao City Connector Bridge currently as to percentage we are at 4.197 percent completion rate. This is a design-and-build project so the construction we started recently since we focused on the design which is at 94 percent and will be completed in July.)
Delos Reyes said they have adjusted the completion date due to delays in the implementation of the design due to road-right-of-way issues.
“At any rate we are confident to finish the project by September 2028,” Delos Reyes said.
Connection Masterplan
There is a future masterplan which will integrate the three major road and bridge infrastructure projects in Davao City; the coastal road, SIDC bridge and the Davao City Bypass Road.
The 45-kilometer billion bypass road, which starts in Sirawan in Toril District of Davao City and ends in Barangay J.P. Laurel in Panabo City, Davao del Norte, aims to provide smoother and faster travel between the northern and southern areas of the city and mitigate traffic congestion. It costs around P46.8 billion and includes a modern 2.3 kilometer mountain road tunnel.
According to Engineer Benjamin Bautista project director Road Management Cluster-UPMO of the DPWH says there is a masterplan that will connect these big-ticket road infrastructures in the near future.
“If you see now there is a Davao Coastal and Davao Bypass, there is a program which was deferred muna (for the meantime) what we call Davao City Expressway wherein these two major infrastructures, the Davao Coastal and the Davao Bypass and the SIDC they will be connected but that is in the masterplan,” Bautista said. (PIA/RGA)
