Two major road networks worth PHP80.1 million have been completed in this city that could boost access to markets and tourist sites, the Department of Public Works and Highways-Western Visayas (DPWH-6) reported on Tuesday.

A PHP10-million project, implemented by the DPWH Bacolod City District Engineering Office, involves the construction of a one-kilometer, two-lane road, which continues the Barangay Granada farm-to-market (FMR) road construction that started in 2016.

The completion of the Hacienda Mirasol to Sto. Domingo FMR, funded under the 2022 General Appropriations Act, in partnership with the Department of Agriculture, is seen to benefit some 119,000 residents and farmers in this city and its neighboring localities.

“The newly-concreted road will provide a safer and faster route for travelers and bring significant benefits to the communities of Bacolod City and Murcia,” DPWH-6 Regional Director Nerie Bueno said in a statement.

Meanwhile, a PHP70.1-million access road and bridge widening project will cut travel time going to Murcia’s town proper and Mambukal Resort and Wildlife Sanctuary from this city.

The road improvement project spans the area along Negros First Cyber Center and Negros Occidental High School on Libertad Street while the widening of Bakyas Bridge is located around 100 meters at the boundary of Barangays Taculing and Mansilingan, going towards Murcia which hosts several other tourist attractions.

Also undertaken by the Bacolod City District Engineering Office headed by District Engineer Abraham Villareal, the project is under the Government Infrastructure Program and part of the Tourism Road Infrastructure Project program, which began in 2019.

“The completion of the access road and widening of this bridge in Bacolod City will provide a more comfortable, safer, and faster travel for motorists and commuters,” Bueno added. (PNA)