Angeles City”•Public Works Secretary Mark Villar will inaugurate the P120-million Filipino-American Friendship bridge in Barangay Anonas here on Tuesday, March 12.
The 240 linear-meter bridge with two lanes was constructed parallel to the existing one also with two lanes. Both are called friendship bridges.
With four lanes now in use, traffic is expected to improve along the Friendship Highway, especially vehicles entering the secondary gate of Clark Freeport located in the same area.
Lordino F. Soriano, project engineer of the Third Engineering Office of Pampanga, said construction of the bridge started last May 2018 and finished on time three weeks ago.
The P120-million funding came from the regular budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways, Soriano said.
The highway will also undergo widening to avoid traffic congestion during rush hours, the engineer said.
Traffic in barangay Anonas consists of vehicles coming from the City of San Fernando and the neighboring municipalities of Guagua, Sta. Rita, Porac, and Floridablanca, as they use the secondary Clark gate as an alternative to the main gate in Balibago due to heavy traffic during rush hour.
The Filipino-American Friendship Highway is a symbol of amity and cooperation between the two countries, despite the United States military forces leaving Clark and the country after the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in 1993.
Establishments along the 20-kilometer highway are now mostly occupied by Korean nationals and their restaurants.