The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in the Philippines has announced that it is constructing two bypass roads in Zamboanga del Sur province.

The two bypass roads, namely Sominot-Dumingag and Sominot-Mahayag roads, are expected to provide easy access to towns of Zamboanga del Sur and currently on track for completion.

DPWH Secretary Mark A Villar said: “DPWH has completed a 2.24km segment of the Sominot-Dumingag Road Project under the initial 2018 fund while the ongoing construction of another 2.66km under CY 2019 has reached 99.13% completion.”

Spanning 17.9km, the Sominot-Dumingag Road is a PHP788.5m ($16.4m) project, which will see the construction of four bridges, as well as slope protection provision and road concreting.

Upon completion, the road will serve as an alternative route to the Sominot and Dumingag municipalities.

Sominot-Dumingag Road is expected to reduce 90 minutes of inter-town travel time to just 20 minutes.

On the other hand, the PHP578m ($12m) Sominot-Mahayag Road project includes 15.7km road concreting, bridge rehabilitation, construction of slope protection and drainage.

Villar said that the civil works along the 2.64km segment of Sominot-Mahayag Road are already 99.18% completed, and a 2.39km portion of the road has already been completed under phase one.

Once completed, the Sominot-Mahayag Road is expected to significantly reduce the travel time between Sominot and Mahayag towns from one hour to just 15 minutes.

In October, DPWH completed the concreating of a 1.55km segment of the Ifugao bypass.

This project is aimed at shortening the distance between the municipality of Lagawe and Lamut in Ifugao Province.