By Vincent P. Grecia
Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) 6 Regional Director Sanny Boy Oropel assured the commuters and the public that the Ungka Flyover is safe to use temporarily despite the vertical displacement on three of its piers.
Oropel made the assurance following their decision to partially open the Ungka Flyover (UFO) until the budget for its rectification is released.
DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan gave the go signal for the partial opening of the UFO following a series of tests, he said.
Only the two inner lanes of the UFO will be used and only light vehicles will be allowed to pass between the hours of 5-9 am and 4-8 pm.
Light vehicles include traditional passenger jeepneys and modernized units or mini buses. While, tricycles, pedicabs, motorbikes, and bicycles are prohibited.
“For the sake of convenience sang aton man mga pumoluyo, we will be having our partial opening for traffic but gusto ko lang emphasize ini nga anytime that at amount will be release by the DPWH-central office for the rectification it will again be closed. That’s why I am seeking your consideration and understanding kon i-open ta ini masira man gihapon, but considering we don’t have a timeline as to rectification, it might be tomorrow, it might be next year so ma-partial open lang ta anay but during rectification activities it will be again closed to traffic kay amo ni ang procedure sang aton rectification,” Oropel said at their press conference.
Earlier, the DPWH 6 conducted a series of static and dynamic load tests on the flyover in which they have not observed any displacement or movement.
“After continuous monitoring, there was no additional vertical displacement observed since January 2023 after the jet grouting was introduced by the contractor,” Oropel said.
DPWH 6 asked the help of traffic enforcers from the Municipality of Pavia and Iloilo City to ensure that only light vehicles could enter both approaches.
Oropel said that based on the recommendation of third party consultant Abinales Associates Engineers+ Consultants the three spans of Ungka flyover particularly at piers 4, 5 and 6 will be demolished so that heavy equipment could install additional support to the three piers.
A budget of PhP 200 million was allotted in the next year’s national budget for the UFO rectification.
He blamed the flyover’s defective construction to the United Technology Consolidated Partnership (UTCP) which their agency commissioned to do the geotechnical services for the UFO, including soil testing.
“Our legal office will take care of that (referring to the liability of UTCP), what we are focusing now is to put a solution to the problem that we are currently facing which is heavy traffic due to the unusable flyover,” Oropel said.
Iloilo City’s Public Safety and Transportation Management Office (PSTMO) head Jeck Conlu, who was present in the press conference, expressed approval to the partial opening of the UFO.
He assured that PSTMO personnel deployed in the area will help direct traffic flow going to the approach of the flyover.
He added that Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas is happy with the development as it will help ease the traffic congestion in the boundary of Pavia and Iloilo City especially during rush hours.
Second District Representative Michael Gorriceta also favored the partial opening of UFO saying that it will ease the traffic congestion in the Ungka area especially during rush hours.
Earlier, Gorriceta asked DPWH officials to partially open the UFO to address the worsening traffic condition in the area.
