DPWH sees completion of Katipunan road widening this year

FILE PHOTO/ Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) (Photo: Department of Public Works and Highways, Philippines/Facebook)

MANILA — The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said it hopes to finish before the end of the year the PHP55-million road widening project that will decongest vehicular traffic along Katipunan Avenue fronting the University of the Philippines-Diliman campus in Quezon City.

“We intend to finish the widening of Katipunan Avenue before December 2017, just in time for the Christmas holiday rush,” DPWH Secretary Mark Villar said in a statement Monday.

During his recent inspection at the on-going construction of two additional concrete lanes between Shuster Street to C.P. Garcia Avenue (south bound), Villar said the 720 linear meters road project will help alleviate perennial traffic problem in the area, especially during rush hour.

He noted that the DPWH Quezon City’s Second District Engineering Office is working hard to expedite the construction of additional road lanes at Katipunan Avenue.

The DPWH chief added that this is part of the department’s traffic decongestion efforts by widening existing road networks to improve road capacity.

Meanwhile, DPWH has also officially started the Katipunan Avenue Extension Project, a 5.85-kilometer road from Katipunan Avenue to Batasan-San Mateo Road that includes a 1.146-kilometer portion of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) property.

The road alignment within Vista Real and Loyola Grand Villas is part of the action taken by DPWH Quezon City First District Engineer Roseller Tolentino’s upon the instruction of Villar, to find an alternate route for areas encountering heavy traffic.

Both Katipunan and Commonwealth Avenues have this perennial problem especially during rush hours.

Aside from avoiding vehicular traffic, the construction Katipunan Avenue Extension to Batasan-San Mateo Road will also cut travel distance in going to Marikina City and Fairview compared to the present route via Commonwealth Avenue of about 6.75 kilometers. (PNA)