DPWH opens newly-widened section of Bulacan Bypass Road

DPWH announces opening of 7.6 km section of Bulacan Bypass Road

For riders of sub-400cc motorcycles, going to the province, particularly in Nueva Ecija and Cagayan Valley, would mean braving through heavy traffic along MacArthur and Maharlika highways.

Good thing that not too long ago, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) constructed the Bulacan Bypass Road, to bypass many of the province’s busy town centers along the way. Through this road, motorcycle riders traveling northwards who are not allowed to use the expressways can now travel faster, starting from Balagtas, Bulacan.

The bypass road, which traverses the towns of Balagtas, Guiguinto, Plaridel, Bustos, and San Rafael, was widened before the pandemic to accommodate the enormous volume of vehicles and to spur economic growth in the Province of Bulacan. Recently, the DPWH opened the 7.64-kilometer section of the Bulacan Bypass Road in the Municipality of San Rafael, Bulacan.

Secretary Antonio Ernesto Lagdameo Jr. of the Office of the Special Assistant to the President of the Philippines, with Japanese Ambassador Kazuhiko Kashikawa, and DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan on Monday, October 9, 2023, led the inauguration ceremony for the two new westbound lanes of the Japan-assisted Arterial Bypass Road Project also known as Plaridel Bypass in the town of San Rafael, Bulacan.

According to DPWH Senior Undersecretary Emil Sadain, from the initial stage of 2-lane, 2-way traffic under Phase 1 and 2, the Arterial Road Bypass Project Phase 3 was funded by loan agreement No. PH-P266 between the Government of the Philippines and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). It involves the widening of the entire 24.61-kilometer stretch of the Arterial Road Bypass Project.

The widened portion of the bypass road now stretches 10 kilometers with the 2.22-kilometer contract package 3 including 1 of Luzon’s longest bridges across the Angat River in Bustos, Bulacan – which was completed in 2021.

In line with the “Build Better More” infrastructure development agenda of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the DPWH targets to finish by the first half of 2024 the ongoing contract packages 1 and 2 which will cover the remaining 12.5 kilometers of the project currently at 64.28 percent completed, said Sadain.

The Arterial Bypass Road Project linked the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) and MacArthur Highway in Balagtas, with the Maharlika Highway in San Rafael. The first 2 lanes of the Plaridel Bypass Road were also financed by the Government of Japan and have already made a major economic impact by improving the road network among the areas it covered.

The opening of the additional 2 lanes is expected to boost industrialization and the inflow of tourists, thereby improving the quality of life of many Filipinos, particularly those in the Province of Bulacan and nearby areas of Central Luzon.