LRT South project awarded in April
Nov 16, 2012 (Menafn - The Manila Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya on Thursday said that the contract for the P60-billion extension of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) line 1 from Baclaran in Pasay City to Bacoor City in Cavite will be awarded by April next year.
In an interview, Abaya said that four firms submitted the required documents that formally marked their entry as bidders for the project. The four are Light Rail Manila Consortium of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and Ayala groups, SMC Infra Resources Inc., DMCI Holdings Inc., and MTDC-Samsung Consortium.
The documents will be evaluated by the Special Bids and Awards Committee of the Department of Transportation and Communications.
The LRT Cavite Extension project will extend LRT1 from 20.7 kilometers to 32.4km and will have a new south endpoint in Niog, Bacoor City, Cavite. The extension project also includes eight stations (with provision for two future stations), 10.5km of viaduct, support beams, and three intermodal facilities.
Once completed, the new line is expected to increase the ridership of LRT1 from 500,000 to 700,000 passengers a day, with most of the new passengers coming from Cavite and the southern parts of Metro Manila.
Meanwhile, Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson said that the government is bent on improving major roads connecting Manila and Cavite.
"We are fixing the roads and widening them. But the other major initiatives, which we hope to finally open early next year is [the] Ternate-Nasugbu that will decongest [this] Tagaytay Ridge," Singson said.
"We are still clearing some right of way issues, but eventually, we will be able to open up the whole of Cavite and Laguna as we try to decongest Metro Manila," he added.
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