WORK on the replacement of the nearly 100-year-old Ysalina bridge with a new four-lane bridge will start sometime early next year, Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Rolando Uy said today.
“The budget for the new bridge (to replace Ysalina bridge) will be readied by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) along with the preparations for the bridge project (by the DPWH along with City Hall) late this year,” Uy confirmed in Visayan minutes after the conclusion online program.
The replacement bridge along with three flyover projects is seen to substantially decongest Cagayan de Oro City’s traffic, the City Planning and Development Office (CPDO) said.
“Just the other day we met with DPWH officials who informed us that they have three flyover projects in the pipeline and Mayor Klarex was briefed about this..the three flyover projects are in Gusa-Cugman, Kauswagan, and Bulua…Mayor Klarex also agreed that the Ysalina bridge has to go,” CPDO chief Ramil Balquin said during the ‘Planning and Development: In Focus’ program hosted last Thursday by the City Information Office.
All four projects will be implemented by the DPWH which is also working on a five-phase road expansion project at the national highway in Barangay Puerto.
The Ysalina Bridge also locally known as Carmen Bridge was named after Pacienco Ysalina, former governor of Misamis Oriental province.
Originally built in bamboo and located near Cagayan de Oro City Hall, the Ysalina bridge underwent reconstruction several times until its present steel suspension form.
The Ysalina Bridge connects the city’s uptown and downtown areas. The new bridge will include a bicycle lane and a pedestrian lane and it is projected to be completed in more than two years.
Balquin said this early there had been quarters that voiced reservations on the project.
“There were those who waxed sentimental saying that the Ysalina bridge has (cultural and) tourism value but we have factors to consider like public safety and (the bridge’s structural stability…The technical experts agreed that the Ysalina bridge really ‘has to go’ since it’s nearly 100 years old,” Balquin said.
Aside from these projects, Balquin said the DPWH has four more bridges connecting the Cagayan de Oro River to the rest of the city.
“This would make the river as having the most number of bridges in Mindanao,” he said, adding that Cagayan de Oro City needs this to resolve its traffic congestion problem. (Stephen Capillas of City Information Office)
