DAVAO CITY—Up to 162.895 kilometers of local roads here are set to be converted into national roads to keep up with the city’s development and its increasing population.
“The Department of Public Works and Highways has requested the conversion of existing roads identified as local roads, into national roads and we have scheduled a committee hearing to fast-track this,” said Councilor Jesus Joseph Zozobrado III on Wednesday.
Zozobrado said there are advantages that come with converting these local roads into national roads, and one of them is funding from the national government for their expansion.
In a memorandum addressed to Public Works Secretary Mark Villar, District Engineer Wilfredo Aguilar said some of the roads must be upgraded to keep up with the recent development and the growing population in the city.
“Given the situation we would like to request for validation of the identified local roads for conversion into national roads,” Aguilar said.
Aguilar said it would be to the best interest of the public if the identified road sections are converted into national roads as this will then be included in the Regular Infrastructure Program of the national government.
In District 1 alone, up to 65.853 kilometers of local roads have been included in the list of proposed roads for conversion. In District 2, there are 97.02 kilometers of roads up for conversion.