The Kalaklan bridge will be open until June 2010.

This was the announcement of SBMA Administrator Armand Arreza in a recent statement.

Arreza further explained that the bridge will continue to be open to light vehicles and pedestrians, in response to appeals made by the city government and business groups in Olongapo City.

Arreza also ordered SBMA engineers to regularly monitor the bridge and ad additional safety mechanism to further strengthen the old bridge.

“We do not mind spending more for this project if it means ensuring that public interest is served adequately,” Arreza said.

SBMA engineers said an average of 2,500 light vehicles and some 300 pedestrians, mostly workers, pass through the Kalaklan Lighthouse Bridge everyday.

The bridge construction project is part of the agency’s efforts to prepare necessary infrastructures for the eventual expansion of the Subic Bay Freeport into nearby areas like Olongapo.

Olongapo City officials and businessmen led by Mayor James “Bong” Gordon Jr. have made representations with the SBMA to consider other options, citing the huge traffic volume that the city will have to take during the year-long construction period and the adverse impact on the tourism industry in Olongapo and Zambales during its peak season in the summer months.

The Kalaklan Bridge, one of the existing four bridges linking this free port to nearby Olongapo City, will be replaced by a new two-lane concrete bridge with covered walkway and a security plaza. It is also the Freeport’s gateway to Zambales.

This bridge and the Main Gate Bridge that leads to Magsaysay Drive, the city’s main business district, were built by the U.S. Navy in the early ‘60s.

SBMA engineers noted last year that these bridges have been “structurally weakened”.  The Main Gate Bridge has been closed to vehicular traffic while only pedestrians and light vehicles are allowed to pass the Kalaklan Bridge.

Related article here:  http://subictimes.com/2010/02/03/delay-in-construction-of-bridge-to-hurt-businesses-more/