Delay in construction of bridge to hurt businesses more

The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority said yesterday that delaying the Kalaklan bridge construction would result in more damage to local business than if the project were not implemented right away.

This was the statement of SBMA administrator Armand Arreza after local businessmen proposed that the construction project be re schedule after summer.

SBMA announced earlier that it will close the bridge this month to make way for the construction of a P200-million replacement with a covered walkway.

Arreza said that the construction would take about a year to complete.

“Losing out on the tourism peak season this summer would not be too much of a sacrifice,” he said. “If you delay the project, however, you’d lose out on both the Christmas season and the summer season next year.” He added.

Arreza issued this statement after members of the Metro-Olongapo Chamber of Commerce Inc. (MOCCI) expressed fear that closing the Kalaklan bridge would disrupt business activities in the city and lead to losses among local business establishments.

MOCCI members said that that most of the visitors in the summer months are day tourists, who would lose much time going around the area due to the anticipated heavy volume of traffic during the bridge construction.

“If you really need to close down the bridge, do it after the summer season,” the Olongapo businessmen suggested.

However, Arreza said the project has to be implemented as scheduled because the bridge, which is about 50 years old, has already developed cracks and has been determined to be “structurally weakened.”

The construction of a new bridge in Kalaklan will also  jumpstart the SBMA program to expand the physical boundaries of the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, and extend the development to nearby communities, he added.

About 2,500 light vehicles and some 300 pedestrians, mostly workers, pass through the Kalaklan bridge everyday.

Olongapo City mayor James Gordon Jr. said the city government will put into effect a truck ban from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m and from 11:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m from Monday to Friday to help ease the traffic problem during the bridge closure.

The city will also declare the busy 14th Street as a tow-away zone to prevent gridlock at the alternative route to the Subic Bay Freeport, Gordon added.