The Regional Development Council (RDC) has approved the alignment of the proposed bridge that will connect the city and the nearby Island Garden City of Samal, Davao del Norte.
Based on the document obtained by TIMES, the approved option is the bridge that will connect the city via the Azuela Cove in Lanang on the way to the nearest point in Samal, considered the primary tourist destination in the Davao Region.The bridge will have a 2.62-kilometer length with only about 900 meters traversing the sea part as the rest will be over the land as its Samal portion will also be connected to its circumferential road.
Ivan C. Cortez, head of the City Planning and Development Office, yesterday said the RDC considered several other options, including a tunnel, “but this (tunnel) is very costly.” “The tunnel will answer the height restriction constraints that the city is imposing on new structures, but it will be very costly in terms of construction, operations and maintenance,” he added.
Other options are building a bridge between Panabo City, another city in Davao del Norte, or the one in Sasa port.
The setting up of the bridge, he added, will also make bigger vessels like Panamax “to circle Samal to avoid Pakiputan Strait.”
The proposed bridge, which first appeared in TIMES front page about 40 years ago, has been identified as among the big ticket projects of the administration of President Rodrigo R. Duterte.
It was also reported earlier that the bridge will have a tag price of about P9 billion.
