Dagupan City (30 April) -- Hopes are up in the city that the inauguration and opening of the P1.3 billion Dawel-Pantal Lucao Road with a bridge in the middle spanning the Pantal River here could finally happen middle of May.

This was disclosed to newsmen by Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez, who joined Mayor Alipio Fernandez Jr. and officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways contract in inspecting the project last Monday.

She said it is up to Mayor Fernandez who he will invite to inaugurate the project, the biggest project ever to be constructed by the government in Dagupan City.

The mayor, the closest ally of the former Speaker in the fourth district, is inclined to invite both President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Congressman Jose de Venecia Jr., to inaugurate the project.

Both President Arroyo and de Venecia were instrumental in building the project but have had a falling out in political relations since de Venecia's ouster as House Speaker.

The bridge, constructed by the Toyo Construction of Japan, was funded from a P960 million soft loan obtained by the government from Japan, through the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation.

The road component measuring more than four kilometers, was funded solely from the Priority Development Funds of De Venecia, congressmen of fourth district of Pangasinan.

The road was built over former fishponds and swamplands in the outskirts of Dagupan City.

Vice Mayor Fernandez believed the project is now complete, except for a few minor details, including an access road leading to barangay Pantal from the new highway.

She said Mayor Fernandez vowed to build the access road, including a children's park on a vacant space under the bridge in barangay Pantal.

Vice Mayor Fernandez said once the new highway opens, it will unclog the daily traffic bottleneck in the city's downtown area and hasten travel to and from Dagupan. (PIA-Pangasinan)