LINGAYEN, Pangasinan -- Completion of the Daang Kalikasan (Nature's Highway), which construction is now in full swing, will bring benefits to both Pangasinan and Zambales, according to a lawmaker.
This road linking the two provinces will hasten not only travel but also trade and tourism since it passes through mountains and pockets of virgin forests, Pangasinan (2nd District) Rep. Leopoldo Bataoil told newsmen on Monday.
Construction of the Daang Kalikasan will also ensure the protection and preservation of the remaining virgin forests in the area, he said.
If the area is declared as part of the economic zones in Pangasinan, both sides of the highway can be tapped for eco-tourism projects since the road is very scenic, he added.
Bataoil said the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) started work on the project on the Pangasinan side last year and this is now the second year of construction for the project.
The lawmaker, who initiated the project in 2012, said the Daang Kalikasan is a 54-kilometer, multi-year (five years) project of DPWH starting from Mangatarem, Pangasinan, and going across mountainous areas, all the way to Santa Cruz, Zambales.
Construction of the highway on the Zambales side has also started, Bataoil said, adding that the intention of the DPWH is to have both ends meet in the middle by 2021.
He said the Daang Kalikasan used to be an old logging road carved by illegal loggers to allow their heavy duty trucks to pass across mountainous terrains and forest areas.
But because illegal logging has stopped, the perpetrators abandoned the road and authorities decided it could be widened, improved and maximized to provide the shortest link from Pangasinan to Zambales and vice versa.
Bataoil said he traveled on this road in 2011 and 2012 during the dry and wet seasons and succeeded but admitted it was too hard and excruciating.
After that trip, he said he asked DPWH to study the feasibility of the project and the department recommended it for funding by the National Economic and Development Authority.
Bataoil expects that this year, construction of the road will reach the upland of Mangatarem and next year, the downward portion leading to Sta. Cruz, Zambales. (PNA)
