The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) announced that the detailed engineering design (DED) for the Panay-Guimaras-Negros (PGN) island bridges project will start next year, 2023.
This is after the Philippines secured a USD56.6 million (around Php2.96 billion) loan from the Republic of Korea earlier this year for the project. The bridge is considered as a big-ticket infrastructure project by the government.
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Once completed, the PGN Island Bridges will link Panay to Negros via a 13-kilometer section, with 4.97 kilometers of it being a sea-crossing bridge and road approaches of 8.03 kilometers.
Meanwhile, the Guimaras to Negros section will be 19.47 kilometers long that consists of a 13.11-kilometer sea-crossing bridge, 5.49-kilometer road approaches, and 0.87-kilometer road connectors.
Once completed, the travel time from Panay to Negros Islands — which currently uses ferries or RORO, will be cut to 1 hour from 3 to 4 hours.
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Other than the PGN Island Bridges, the creation of the Bataan-Cavite bridge is also in motion. This 32-kilometer inter-island bridge will connect Central Luzon and the Southern Tagalog Region and will significantly cut the travel time from Cavite to Bataan to just 20-30 minutes from 5 hours.