Angeles prepares for railway, Clark airport expansion

ANGELES CITY — Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan has rolled out 14 road and bridge projects to help this city in Pampanga province cope with heavier traffic when the government completes the P211.43-billion Malolos-Clark Railway and P12.55-billion expanded Clark International Airport (CRK) in nearby Clark Freeport in 2020.

The projects involve the construction of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx)-Subic Clark Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) Connecting Road or Abacan Expressway, the East Circumferential Road, the Furniture Village Bypass Road, Angeles Livelihood Road in the Export Processing Zone Authority, the Angeles SCTEx Toll Exit Interchange in Barangay Margot, a flyover at the Angeles-Magalang Road and the Angeles-Porac (Pampanga)-Dinalupihan (Bataan) Road.

Also programmed for Clark is the widening of the Clark-Angeles perimeter road, the Manila North Road, the Pulung Maragul bridge, Pulung Cacutud bridge, Cutud bridge and Telebastagan-Friendship Road. A dike will rise at the Malabanias section of the Abacan River. The projects also include the improvement of the city’s watershed in Barangay Sapang Bato.

Pamintuan unveiled these projects when he reported the state of the city on Tuesday. He said the project proposals had been submitted to Public Works Secretary Mark Villar.

“Angeles City is at the threshold of historic growth with the ‘build, build, build’ [infrastructure program] of the Duterte administration,” Pamintuan said, adding that the program consists of P8.4-trillion worth of big-ticket projects across the country.

“The railway will open up many parts of Central Luzon, primarily Angeles City, to greater development. The rail will not only decongest traffic in Metro Manila, but will also open up the tracks for investments rolling to the growth centers north of Manila,” he said.

He said the construction of a new CRK terminal, which could serve eight million passengers annually, would have a direct impact on the city.

“We are a tourism and entertainment destination and our industries and enterprises in relation to tourism, entertainment, food, among others, will benefit immensely from a more active international airport in our neighborhood,” he said.

According to Pamintuan, 1,167 flights in and out of CRK from January to May, serving 146,000 passengers, contributed to the increase of registered business establishments to 12,908. At least 1,589 of these are new.

He said the city government would have to strengthen revenue generation to meet the 2017 budget of P1.76 billion which would be financed by P917 million in locally generated funds and P845 million in internal revenue allotments. —Tonette Orejas