The Provincial Development Council Executive Committee has previously endorsed to the Regional Development Council a third bridge connecting Tagbilaran Port to the Municipality of Dauis.
Now there is an iconic bridge, which Governor Edgar Chatto termed as a manna from heaven, being proposed by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Central Office.
The proposed iconic bridge will start near the old city hall and end in Totolan, Dauis in place of the causeway bridge and this is proposed to ease the traffic that will be created after the operation of the Bohol-Panglao International Airport.
Meanwhile, the third bridge will start at the corner of the Tagbilaran City Port and end in Totolan-Songculan in Dauis to facilitate the transport of passengers from the international airport to the fastcraft terminal in Tagbilaran.
According to Chatto, the third bridge already has a feasibility study that will be completed next month and there is already an initial fund from the national government to start the project in 2018.
The third bridge is also called an offshore bridge connector while the iconic bridge has a different design with touristic value, which includes cables that will strengthen the bridge and add more beauty to the structure.
The causeway bridge will remain but it will be improved for environmental purposes and will be converted to a leisurely walkway or a tourism enterprise bay park.
The iconic bridge was endorsed by the PDC on Sept. 25 for inclusion in the RDC meeting in Siquijor the next day and for presentation to NEDA Investment Coordination Committee–Cabinet Committee Meeting while the DPWH is yet to prepare its feasibility study.
The iconic bridge project will be funded by the Austrian Government and will be implemented under the Bridge Construction Acceleration Project for Socio-Economic Development of the Department of Public Works and Highways.
Through a letter sent by DPWH Sec. Mark Villar to NEDA Sec. Ernesto Pernia, Chatto informed that the structure, first of its kind in Bohol, will start in 2018 and end in 2021.
The iconic bridge is worth P2.9 billion while the third bridge is P4.9 billion and expected to be completed in 2022, if project is started in 2018.
The iconic cable-stayed bridge has a length of 540 meters with four lanes while the third bridge is 2.2 kilometers long. These additional two bridges are expected to lessen the traffic woes that will result from the operation of the new airport in Panglao.
There are two existing bridges connecting Tagbilaran City and Panglao Island, hence the name third bridge.
The first bridge is in causeway at Sitio Ubos, Poblacion I in Tagbilaran going towards Totolan, Dauis while the second bridge starts at the junction of Mansasa in Tagbilaran leading to Poblacion, Dauis.
There is a fourth bridge that is being planned to start at the proposed City Friendship Park in Bool , Tagbilaran City that will lead to Catarman in Dauis.
The feasibility study has already been endorsed but the project may start later than the third and iconic bridges.
The PDC ExeCom, through a motion of Engr. Albert Uy, President of the Bohol Chamber of Commerce and Industry, also passed a resolution naming the iconic bridge as Tagbilaran City-Dauis (Panglao Island) Arch Bridge.
In another resolution, the new Bohol airport will be named “Bohol-Panglao International Airport,” the name of which is patterned after the Bacolod-Silay International Airport in Negros Occidental and Cebu-Mactan International Airport.
Officials of the DPWH-Central Office and consultants of Austria-based Waagner Biro presented the project proposal details of the iconic bridge to the governor last week.
Chatto also presented this to Tagbilaran City Mayor John Geesnell Yap II and Dauis Mayor Miriam Sumaylo because their local government units are the direct beneficiaries of the said project. maoy direktang butangan sa proyekto. (based from a Visayan news of Ven rebo Arigo)