07/26/2009 [ tribune.net.ph ]
Shrugging off the howl it evoked from environmentalists and the public in general, officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) over the weekend justified its cutting down of trees along MacArthur Highway due to a road expansion project, saying the "sacrificing" of the trees was necessary in order to achieve a much more vital goal.
"Much have been said about the trees, I hope people will also be mindful of the rights of the general public to faster travel time and to be able to buy cheaper vegetables and other farm products from Central Luzon and Baguio (City)," DPWH Undersecretary Romeo Momo said in an interview with the media.
The DPWH had ordered a halt to the implementation of the project last Tuesday while it held further talks with artists and environmentalists opposing the cutting down of 5,446 trees along the MacArthur Highway as part of the department’s project to widen the 200-kilometer road.
According to the DPWH Regional Director Alfredo Tolentino, the widening of the of the MacArthur Highway, which stretches from Caloocan City in Metro Manila to La Union province, would speed up travel time from about four hours to about two hours from the two ends of the road.
"Trucks carrying vegetables, rice and meat products are the ones mostly using the MacArthur Highway (for the drivers) to avoid paying the toll fees at the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX). Savings in fuel cost would redound to the lowering of the prices of vegetable coming from Baguio," Tolentino said.
He said like other roads that have two lanes measuring three meters wide, the MacArthur Highway, the busiest road in Central Luzon other than the NLEX, is often hit by traffic gridlocks.
Tolentino said the widening of the highway entails the increasing the number of its lanes to four, with each measuring 3.5 meters wide. It will also be provided with "shoulders" that are 1.5 meters wide on both sides, he added.
If it is implemented according to plans, the project would cost about P6 billion and take about five years to finish, the DPWH said. Mina Diaz
____________________________________________________________________________________
