As a motorcycle rider, have you ever imagined what it's like to ride your motorcycle from island to island without the need to get onboard a RO-RO (Roll-On Roll-Off ferry)?
This may soon become a reality as the DPWH had recently revealed plans to build a 19-kilometer inter-island bridge that will connect Iloilo to Guimaras Island, and finally to Negros.
The 19.2-kilometer bridge will be named the Panay-Guimaras-Negros Link Bridge, and will be part of a group of projects of 17 short and long-span bridges that will be built across the country.
When completed, they will serve as a safer means of getting to and from Guimaras. However, don't expect the project to get started right away. The project is still under a feasibility study funded by China. According to Anna Mae Lamentillo, Build, Build, Build Committee Chairperson, they need to conduct several studies before actual construction can begin. These include a pre-feasibility study, feasibility study, as well as detailed engineering design. And since our longest bridge only spans at more than 2 kilometers, careful studies are needed in order for the project to be made correctly.
“Because of the magnitude of this project, our longest bridge is about two kilometers which is 1/10 of what we want to achieve for Panay-Guimaras-Negros. So we’re really very careful as to yung construction and yung design for this particular project,” said Lamentillo.
She also added that, even before the recent tragedy that resulted in the death of individuals at sea, the project was already deemed a priority by the government and that the feasibility study will be finished by the end of the year.
With the Panay-Guimaras-Negros Link Bridge set to be ten times longer than the San Juanico Bridge (pictured above) that connects Samar and Leyte, we can only hope that the Build, Build, Build Committee and the DPWH can make this a reality, along with the other 16 other short and long-span bridge projects they have in the pipeline.
