DPWH bats for tunnel along Roxas Boulevard

MANILA, Philippines - Traveling from Las Piñas City to the Manila Hotel via Roxas Boulevard would only take 10 to 15 minutes once an underground expressway is constructed along the major thoroughfare, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said yesterday.

The construction of the Metro Manila Tunnel Expressway (MMTEX) was a proposal submitted by the DPWH to the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) to decongest Roxas Boulevard and to connect the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) to the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX).

DPWH Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. admitted that as of the present, the construction of the MMTEX remains a proposal but it has its merits.

“This project could become feasible in five years but there are still a lot to do, we have to get an approval and to go through the process,” Ebdane said.

He added that if everything falls into place, they could improve the traffic flow along the stretch of the boulevard “because the motorists do not have to pass through every road intersection. From Las Piñas to Manila Hotel, which is the start of R-10 or Radial Road 10, it could only take 10 to 15 minutes. At present, because of the heavy traffic, the motorists have to bear one hour of travel time.”

The DPWH said that about six years from now, the size of the population in Metro Manila would balloon to 25.7 miilion and there would be 2.3 million cars going through the metropolis.

He said the plan is to complete the 28-kilometer MMTEX in two phases.

The first phase of the project will have an eight-kilometer tunnel from MIA Road to P. Burgos St. along Roxas Boulevard costing P9.9 billion. The second phase would have a 20-kilometer tunnel traversing from P. Burgos to North Luzon Expressway through Navotas, Malabon and Valenzuela.   – Evelyn Macairan