Buhang Flyover ready for full operation, says DPWH-6

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)-Region 6 on Saturday confirmed that the Buhang Flyover in Iloilo City’s Jaro district will open in the third week of April 2023.

DPWH-6 Assistant Regional Director Jose Al Fruto told Aksyon Radyo Iloilo on Saturday that the Iloilo City District Engineering Office (ICDEO) fixed the opening date after the 3-day dry run in the last week of March.

Fruto said the remaining improvement would be the regulatory signages on vehicles that will be allowed to pass through the structure and other rules.

The remaining activities also include the cleanup of the flyover area and the egress of the contractor’s employees.

Fruto is confident that because of the favorable observations, the ICDEO would be able to follow its target opening date in April.

“Based on the factual data we record from the survey stations we installed to monitor the behaviors of the flyover, so far, so good, that it’s almost in place. We’re just improving some of the signages that we’ll be putting there, that will regulate, first and foremost, the vehicles which can use the flyover,” Fruto said.

“The schedule [for the opening of the Buhang Flyover] would be either on the later part of the third week of April or the last week of April. We are also looking at who will be opening the flyover. We will know that by then,” he added.

But Fruto added that works on the road below the flyover, including the installation of a new drainage system and lighting, are still ongoing, with additional funding to be provided by next year.

As to the vehicular regulations on the flyover, he noted that the design was done with H20-44 loading in mind, which would allow all types of vehicles to pass, except for heavy trucks to prevent overloading.

Smaller vehicles such as tricycles, motorcycles under 300 cc, and bicycles would also be prohibited in the meantime to avoid accidents.

“What we are regulating is the possibility of overloading. That is why we would be regulating the trucks [for entry onto the flyover], especially trailer trucks because its axles and its loads multiply,” he said.

The dry run was conducted by the ICDEO from March 29 to March 31, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., to check its readiness to welcome vehicular traffic from the public, as well as its effects on the traffic below.

It was done with limited load capacity while bicycles, motorcycles under 300 cc, and vehicles with more than 3 axles were prohibited from using the flyover.

The 200-meter, 5-span flyover sits between the intersection of the Iloilo-Capiz Road and the President Corazon Aquino Avenue (Circumferential Road) at Barangay Buhang in Jaro district.

It was built on all of its three phases by the winning contractor, F. Gurrea Construction, Inc., with a cost of ₱520 million, according to a September 19, 2022 DPWH press release.