Bulacan Bypass Road Phase 3 nearly complete

MANILA, Philippines — The third phase of the Arterial Road Bypass project in Bulacan is on track for completion by December, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) said.

The project, also known as the Plaridel Bypass, is a 24-kilometer arterial road linking North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) in Balagtas, Bulacan with Maharlika Highway in San Rafael, Bulacan.

It bypasses the towns of Plaridel, Pulilan, Baliuag and San Rafael. Once completed, it will help divert some 15,000 vehicles, decongesting Maharlika Highway.

The bypass road is one of the nine road projects JICA is supporting under the government’s Build Build Build infra program.

JICA said this would spur greater economic activity in the area as the mobility of agricultural products would be improved.

In the process, this can increase the growth of investment and employment in the areas.

The 9.399-billion yen (P4.25 billion) loan agreement for Phase III of the bypass road was signed in 2018 between JICA and the Department of Finance.

The Philippines committed a counterpart funding of 1.476 billion yen (around P1 billion) for the project which has a total cost of 10.87 billion yen or about P5.26 billion.