The second San Juanico Bridge will serve as one of the country's top priority projects that the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has considered, said the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) 8 (Eastern Visayas).
According to DPWH-8 Regional Director Edgar Tabacon, JICA will soon begin gathering information to prepare the terms of reference for the project's feasibility study, which will begin before the end of the year.
Tabacon stated that JICA Southeast Asia Division Senior Deputy Director Yosuke Nishii and four other JICA officials recently met with DPWH and Regional Development Council officials to better understand the rationale for the bridge project and its eventual socioeconomic role in the region.
In contrast to the proposed 1.24 km. Although the second San Juanico Bridge only has two lanes, Tabacon believes that a four-lane bridge would be more effective given the increasing traffic.
A larger bridge will also complement ongoing road expansion efforts.
The JICA team assured the DPWH that adding more lanes would be considered and that the project's design would be based on the findings of the feasibility study, which will begin in the third quarter of 2023.
The construction of the second San Juanico Bridge is scheduled to begin in 2025, which would require PHP9.17 billion for construction to link the towns of Babatngon, Leyte, and Sta. Rita, Samar.
It will pass through the Janbatas Channel, which is part of the San Juanico Strait that separates the region's two major islands.
The proposed bridge would run from Guintigui-an village in Babatngon, Leyte, to San Pascual village in Sta. Samar, Rita.
Meanwhile, San Juanico Bridge had a daily traffic volume of 7,200 vehicles in 2019, which was close to its 10,000 daily capacity, and expected to increase to 10,900 daily in 2030, exceeding its limit, and 15,900 by 2040.
The existing 2.16-kilometer road was built in 1973. The San Juanico Bridge has a number of issues, including aging and high maintenance costs.
