DPWH: Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge in Rockwell closed starting Jan. 19

MANILA, Philippines — The seven-year-old Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge, also known as the Rockwell Bridge, will be closed to traffic for 30 months starting on Jan. 19, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials said yesterday.

Emil Sadain, DPWH undersecretary for unified project management office operations and technical services, said by totally closing the bridge, contractor China Road and Bridge Corp. would be able to accelerate the dismantling of the existing bridge and construction of a new 506-lineal meter structure.

He said they will “go full-blast on implementation” so the bridge, which connects Estrella street in Makati and Barangka Drive in Mandaluyong, will be completed by 2021.

The project was originally set last September but was deferred to Jan. 12, to give way for the holiday season, and then to Jan. 19.

The reconstruction and widening project is aimed at increasing the bridge’s capacity. Rockwell Bridge has an average daily traffic of 25,826 vehicles per day, based on the latest traffic count surveys by the DPWH’s Bureau of Quality and Safety.

The new bridge would also have a three-meter sidewalk on both sides, in contrast with the current bridge’s .6-meter sidewalks, the DPWH said.

Sen. Grace Poe, however, urged the government to review the merits of replacing a perfectly working bridge.

She also said that the contractor’s mother firm, China Communications Construction Corp., is the same state-owned firm assigned to reclaim land in the West Philippine Sea and “was also banned by the World Bank in 2009 for anomalies related to several multimillion-peso Philippine road projects it had funded.”

Poe said officials must answer the observation shared by many groups that the advantages of having a four-lane bridge are cancelled when both ends lead to two-lane roads.

The DPWH said it is conducting a parcellary survey for the road widening of Pantaleon street while the widening of Barangka Drive is included in the Mandaluyong City government’s master development plan.

Rerouting

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said all motorists coming from Mandaluyong, San Juan and Quezon City using Sgt. Bumatay and Barangka Drive should turn right on Pantaleon, then Conrado, then take the Makati-Mandaluyong Bridge to their destination.

Motorists coming from Maysilo and San Francisco should go straight to Conrado  and Makati-Mandaluyong Bridge to their destination while motorists going from Mandaluyong to Makati’s business district should take EDSA, then Guadalupe Cloverleaf to J.P. Rizal Extension, turn left on Estrella to their destination.

All motorists exiting from Tivoli Garden Residences should use the back gate on Private Road along Sen. N. Gonzales Road while all those coming from Makati Avenue should take P. Burgos, go straight to Makati-Mandaluyong Bridge, Conrado then San Francisco to their destination.

Motorists from Rockwell should take Estrella, turn right on Gumamela street, left on Camia to J.P. Rizal to their destination.

Public utility jeepneys will be diverted at Private Road along Sen. N. Gonzales and vice versa. – With Paolo Romero