Major road projects funded by the national government, particularly the more than P7 billion Bacolod-Negros Occidental Economic Highway (BANOCEH), are seen to create more growth centers in Bacolod City.
Bacolod City Lone District Representative Greg Gasataya, who helped facilitate the implementation of the modern road network, said according to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the concreting of the BANOCEH would be completed by August 30.
“The BANOCEH is, for me, a trailblazing project which will definitely open new growth areas for Bacolod City. This project started way back in 2017,” Gasataya said in his State of the District report on Sunday afternoon, July 7.
While Gasataya pushed for the Bacolod side of the project, he said it was now Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez, former representative of the neighboring Third District, who supported the implementation of the project towards the northern part of the city.
“[In Bacolod], this would be from Barangay Sum-ag, passing through Barangays Cabug and Felisa, turning to Barangay Mansilingan up to Barangay Vista Alegre, going to Barangays Granada, Estefania and Mandalagan, and going out to Barangay Bata. By August 30, the BANOCEH would be passable,” he added.
Data from the DPWH showed the economic highway, which spans 48.8 kilometers, stretches from Bacolod South Road junction along Barangay Sum-ag in Bacolod City towards the Bacolod North Road junction in Victorias City.
Among the other major road projects in the city include the expansion of the Burgos Extension Road going to Barangay Alangilan, as well as the concreting of farm-to-market roads in Barangays Granada and Alangilan, two of the cities farthest barangays to the east.
The construction of the bypass road from Barangay Alangilan to Barangay Vista Alegre along the BANOCEH and the road from Barangay Granada to BANOCEH has also started, Gasataya said.
He added the completion of improved roads from Bacolod, going to the adjacent Murcia town and Bago City.
“The opening of these new roads definitely will also open new growth areas for Bacolod City. That is why I also filed a bill establishing the Bacolod Special Economic Zone [BSEZ], which is now in the Senate,” the lawmaker said.
He said that once the BSEZ bill is approved, the areas covered could accommodate major investment projects of the government and the private sector.
The proposed Bacolod Special Economic Zone Act provides the establishment of a special economic zone in the city and the creation of the Bacolod Special Economic Zone Authority or the BSEZA. (PNA)