City eyes new Tabucan-Diversion road
The city government is planning to convert the four-meter wide dike from the Carpenters Bridge in Mandurriao up to the Diversion Road (Benigno Aquino Sr. Avenue) into a roadway.
City Mayor Jerry Treñas said the 4 meters wide and 2.5 kilometers long dike will be transformed into a 2.5 kilometers, eight meters wide road which will connect Brgy. Tabucan until Barbecue Park in Diversion Road. The city government is currently lobbying before the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for a funding from the national government.
Treñas said the city has no budget for such project. They would ask help from the DPWH for a possibility of building a concrete or asphalt overlay road in the area. At present, the contractor has started to pour in earth materials as initial steps in constructing a water dike.
Originally, the plan is to make a dike from Tabucan to Diversion as embodied in the Iloilo Flood Control Project. However, plans cropped up to convert it into a road to make it more beneficial to the people. The proposed new road is an alternative route for the motorists other than the Diversion-General Luna, and Diversion-Pison Road in going to Mandurriao and Molo districts.
The proposed road will decongest the traffic along General Luna Street and same time allow further economic development in the area. The nearest area would be turned either into a commercial or residential area, said Treñas.