A few months ago, we reported that the Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge Project will be open by June. While the project didn’t hit the June date, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has just announced that the new bridge will open tonight.
According to DPWH Secretary Mark Villar, the Estrella-Pantaleon bridge will be opened to motorists starting at 8:00 PM tonight. By using the bridge, motorists from Mandaluyong City will be able to reach the Central Business District of Makati in just five minutes. The Secretary is proud that despite the challenges, the DPWH was able to deliver its commitment for the July opening of the PHP1.46-billion bridge.
“This newly completed bridge was implemented by DPWH Unified Project Management Office (UPMO) operations and is expected to further decongest vehicular traffic at Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (Edsa),” the DPWH Chief said in a statement.
He also acknowledged the Unified Project Management Office (UPMO) Team led by Undersecretary Emil K. Sadain with UPMO Roads Management Cluster 1 Project Director Benjamin Bautista, former Project Director Virgilio Castillo and Project Manager Melchor Kabiling who have worked double-time to deliver the quality and timely completion of the project.
The final safety checks on the bridge were conducted last July 27. DPWH Undersecretary Emil K. Sadain said the new bridge is set to accommodate around 50,000 vehicles, hence they have conducted a thorough inspection from top to bottom.
The Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge has four (4) lanes along with 3-meter sidewalks on both sides. It is made of a pre-stressed concrete rigid frame with corrugated steel webs. The new bridge replaced the previous two-lane box truss bridge made of modular steel components which were dismantled back in 2019. The new bridge can accommodate up to 50,000 vehicles daily and cut travel time between the cities of Mandaluyong and Makati down to only 5 minutes. Most importantly, once the Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge is open, it will decongest Epifanio de Los Santos Avenue (EDSA) of traffic.
