A train car of the now defunct Panay Railway on display at a park in Iloilo City. The 117-kilometer railway system, constructed in the early 1900’s and closed down in 1983, used to transport agricultural produce and other cargo within Panay Island. — BW FILE

AN ELEVATED expressway that will connect the provinces of Iloilo, Capiz, and Aklan will be endorsed by the Western Visayas Regional Development Council (RDC) to pave the way for a feasibility study.

“I was able to talk to Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Region 6 Regional Director Lea Delfinado and she asked for the infrastructure committee of the RDC to endorse this in order for them to start to conduct the study for the feasibility study of the expressway,” National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA)-6 Regional Director Ro-Ann A. Bacal said.

Ms. Bacal said this infrastructure that will span across Panay Island is envisioned as a toll road, like the north and south luzon expressways.

She said the RDC will be pushing this as they await developments on the proposed Panay Railway, which was part of the national government’s first list of major projects under the Build, Build, Build program.

“We are still awaiting the move of the Department of Transportation (DOTr). We had several project proposals from DOTr but they said it is going to be a public-private partnership (PPP) undertaking but nothing concrete has taken place,” she said.

Businessmen and investors surveyed by the RDC expressed preference for an elevated expressway over a railway system as this would allow them an easier “door-to-door” movement of their products.

“When we talk to the businessmen, they are not so much keen on the railway because they want door-to-door. In the railway, you have to get the goods from the production area and put it to a truck and unload it to the railway, so there are many transfers,” Ms. Bacal said.

The RDC is also proposing that the expressway be designed to accommodate a metro rail transit system (MRT) in the future.

“We feel that there is going to be win-win situations whereby the design of expressway, that it can provide for the MRT in the middle or on the side of the expressway,” she said.

“We will see but we are very keen on the expressway.” — Emme Rose S. Santiagudo

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