China-funded Binondo-Intramuros Bridge seen finished within the year

The Department of Public Works and Highways on Thursday expressed confidence that it will be able to complete the construction of the China-funded Binondo-Intramuros Bridge this year.

In a statement, DPWH Secretary Mark Villar said the project was “pushing ahead smoothly and would open within this year.”

Villar and Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian visited the project site Thursday morning.

With the completion of the bridge, Villar said the traffic condition in Metro Manila would substantially improve.

The Binondo-Intramuros Bridge, the flagship project under President Rodrigo Duterte’s “Build, Build, Build” program, is a two-way four-lane bridge over the Pasig River that connects Binondo and Intramuros.

The main bridge is already 90% complete. It is expected to serve over 30,000 vehicles per day and substantially relieve the traffic congestion along the river.

Meanwhile, the Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge, another China-funded project, is now 79% complete and on track for an opening date in the first half of 2021. It links the cities of Makati and Mandaluyong.

Further, the three priority bridges project is expected to kick off by June 2021.

All five bridges are important components of the twelve priority bridges under the Pasig-Marikina River and Manggahan Floodway Bridges Construction Project of the DPWH which aims to improve the road network and increase the transportation capacity in the capital region.

Huang said the China-Philippines government to government cooperation projects are entering a new stage of implementation in 2021.

He said with the joint efforts of both sides, 11 projects have been completed and 12 projects are being implemented or are about to be implemented.

Aside from the Binondo-Intramuros and Estrella-Pantaleon bridge projects,  the Philippine-Sino Center for Agricultural Technology-Technical Cooperation Program Phase III and the Chico River Pump Irrigation Project are expected to be completed by the end of this year.

There are also 10 more projects under active negotiation.

Huang reiterated China’s willingness to further deepen the synergies of the “Belt and Road” initiative and the “Build, Build, Build” program and push forward the cooperation projects.—AOL, GMA News