Members of the House of Representatives on Sunday welcomed the proposed construction of a multimodal 100-kilometer coastal highway from Subic Bay to the Port of Manila to help ease traffic in Metro Manila.
Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone, Ako Bicol Rep. Rodel Batocabe and Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo backed the recommendation of Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority chairman Martin Diño to “shift the momentum of development north toward Subic and Clark.”
“The proposed road development projects, especially a new one going to the metro, is always a welcome development because of the magnitude of the traffic problem [we have here]. But we should always study the best infrastructure available as the best alternative,” Castelo said.
Traffic jams in the capital have been resulting in productivity losses of at least P2.4 million a day.
Diño staid the “most viable and doable solution to the traffic congestion lies outside the metropolis.”
The project’s indicative cost “is the equivalent of only 34 days of cumulative business losses resulting from the Manila’s traffic congestion,” he added.
The project construction could be completed in 48 months, Diño said.
“The economic benefits from the project would be immediate and enormous,” he said, adding: “This would speed up the movement of goods in and out of the Port of Manila to serve its giant market of 20 million consumers.”