Home » Rural roads (Page 2)
Category Archives: Rural roads
Some good reads on rural roads
A couple of articles came out recently on Rappler that focuses on rural roads:
Farm to market roads: a farmer’s journey, March 5, 2014
The future of rural roads, March 8, 2014
Both are solid articles and places our attention to rural roads and particularly farm to market roads (FMRs). There’s a wealth of information in the articles as well as the links embedded that allow us to see past and present efforts on rural roads. It is good that government with the help of international agencies are investing resources on these roads and we hope that this will be sustained in order to effect what has been touted as inclusive growth.
Rural road connecting to a national highway in Palawan
Rural roads are an important and integral part of of our transportation system. Often, attention is placed on national roads, which are under the jurisdiction of the DPWH. Local roads, however, are under various entities including the Department of Agriculture and various levels of local government (e.g., provincial, city, municipal). Of course, there are roads that are rural but are national and therefore under the DPWH. But most roads are classified as local and therefore would not be directly under that national agency. In fact, 85% of our roads are considered local and those classified as rural comprise perhaps more than 70% of the total roads in the country (i.e., national roads can be urban or rural, and city roads include those in the rural parts of cities). Rural roads including FMRs are essential as they provide basic access to jobs, education, health services, markets and other services that could help alleviate poverty and promote development in rural areas.
–
Romulo Highway: San Clemente – Lingayen
Romulo Highway originates from Tarlac City and passes through the towns of Sta. Ignacia, Camiling and San Clemente in Tarlac, and then the towns of Mangatarem, Aguilar, Bugallon and in Pangasinan. It ends at Lingayen, Pangasinan, in essence connecting the capitols of two major provinces in Central Luzon (Region 3/Tarlac) and the Ilocos (Region 1/Pangasinan).
Solar dryers – a common sight along Philippine highways is palay spread out along the shoulders to dry naturally under the sun
Good condition – pavements along sections of the Romulo Highway between San Clemente and Lingayen are generally well-maintained
Approach to intersection – the island is part of the channelization at the junction to physically separate vehicles approaching the junction.
Channelization – the islands along with directional signs help guide motorists at the junction.
Approaching a curve – this section can be a little tricky with a climb towards a horizontal curve.
Sharp curve – the curve is sharp enough to necessitate the installation of chevrons. This is combined with a climb or descent.
Reverse – it turns out that this section is actually a reverse curve, which increases the complexity of the section for drivers and riders.
Transition to a bridge – the reverse curve leads travelers to the Bugallon Bridge across the Agno River (direction towards Lingayen). Note the 20-ton limit of the bridge indicating that it is a relatively new bridge applying the DPWH standards for load limits.
Bugallon Bridge – is typical concrete bridge structure without an arch. Barriers are concrete and should be able to withstand collisions with most type of vehicles.
Agno River – is part of one of the larger river systems in Luzon Island and the country. The river becomes the Tarlac River when it branches out to Tarlac Province.
Bugallon Bridge – continuation of the long bridge terminating at an embankment that leads to another bridge towards Lingayen.
Padilla Bridge – is a steel truss bridge that is older than the Bugallon Bridge not only based on the form (many old bridges along national highways are steel truss bridges) but also on the load limit of 15 tons. The lane widths are also narrower than that of the Bugallon Bridge.
Padilla Bridge – is longer than the Bugallon Bridge as it crosses a wider branch of the Agno River system.
San Jose Bridge – viewed towards Lingayen from Bugallon is a relatively short steel truss bridge.
San Jose Bridge – view towards Bugallon from Lingayen is probably the same age as the Padilla Bridge. This bridge also has a 15-ton load limit.
Crossroads – vehicles turning to the left will be headed back towards Tarlac through Bugallon and Mangatarem. Going straight will take the traveler to the towns of Labrador, Sual and the general direction of Alaminos and Bolinao. The SUV on the left is headed for Lingayen and Dagupan.
Provincial boundary – a simple arch marks the boundary between Pangasinan and Tarlac. A little further downstream is another arch formalizing the boundary for the Municipality of San Clemente in Tarlac.
First town after the border – San Clemente is the first Tarlac town along the Romulo Highway upon crossing from Mangatarem, Pangasinan.
–
Cagayan Valley Roads – Part 2
To continue with Part 1 of my feature on Cagayan Valley Roads, the following photos were taken along the national roads from Nueva Vizcaya to Cagayan (Tuguegarao).
After Dalton Pass, motorists continue on winding mountain sections, often with little protection against flying off the road
Community in a valley in the mountains as seen from the national highway
The hills seem to be silent witnesses to intense logging in the past that has left us with a lot of barren hills and mountains. I could only imagine how these hills could have looked like if there were still trees.
Entering Bambang, Nueva Vizcaya, I was a little disappointed that there was no grand arch like those marking boundaries in other cities or towns along national highways. Instead, there’s this sponsored sign on a gantry. Ahead, some of the chevron signs have been stolen, leaving only a few installed and empty posts.
Reverse curve section with concrete barriers to keep cars from going off-road and into the ravine on the right. These barriers, however, will be unable to stop larger vehicles.
I was both a bit surprised and delighted that tricycles used the shoulder (or is it parked?) and got out of the way of general traffic. I now forget the exact name of the place but this is somewhere in Bambang in Nueva Vizcaya and the tricycles here are not garapal users of the road.
There are many trucks traveling along the Pan-Philippine Highway as this is a major route for a lot of goods. Isabela province, for example, produces rice that is transported mainly to Central Luzon and Metro Manila.
This typical 2-lane concrete bridge is relatively new judging from the 20-ton limit indicated in the sign. Older bridges would have 15-ton limits.
The sign before the bridge allows motorists to assess distances to major towns along the highway: 8 km to Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya, 13 km to Solano, Nueva Vizcaya, and 70 km to Santiago, Isabela. The two-lane bridge doesn’t have enough space for pedestrian use or breakdowns.
There are many straight, long sections like this between Bayombong and Bagabag.
I forget now but this section is also likely to be somewhere between Bagabag, Nueva Vizcaya and Cordon, Isabela. Bagabag is close to the provincial and regional boundary with Banaue Province (Cordillera Autonomous Region) and there are signs pointing travelers to roads going to Baguio City and Lagawe.
I forget now but this section is also likely to be somewhere between Bagabag, Nueva Vizcaya and Cordon, Isabela.
Calao Bridge in Santiago City, Isabela is an example of old school bridgework using steel trusses. It is similar to many other bridges including those still standing in the Visayas and Mindanao.
From Santiago City, we decided to take the alternate route using the Santiago-Tuguegarao Road. Our assessment was that this would be less congested compared to using the Cagayan Valley Road, which passes through more populous towns like Cauayan and Ilagan.
Arch announcing our arrival at Cabatuan, Isabela province along the Santiago-Tuguegarao Road.
Typical two-lane bridge in Isabela along the alternate route to the Cagayan Valley road. Our decision to take this road seemed to be a good one as traffic was very light and we could travel without worrying too much about tricycles or pedestrians.
There were rice fields on both sides of the road. The concrete pavement was satisfactory and allowed us to travel at high speeds. Fortunately, there were few communities and people living along the highway at the time.
I like seeing rice fields with the plants growing and the greenery indicating its is well-irrigated. This was taken in mid-February so I am pretty sure that since it was months before the wet season, the area had an abundant harvest.
Sunset in the Cordilleras
The light from the sunset presents travelers with surreal sights with the rice fields and the mountains often combining for picture-perfect moments. I took this with my Canon Ixy on-board a moving vehicle!
Another shot of the country side along the Santiago-Tuguegarao Road. This highway will actually pass through Kalinga province and there is a junction after Quezon town where travelers can turn left towards Tabuk, the capital town of Kalinga.
Crossing the Buntun Bridge after Enrile town brings the traveler to Tuguegarao. The bridge spans the width of the Cagayan River, the longest and largest river in the Philippines, which deserves to be called by its name during the Spanish period – Rio Grande de Cagayan.
Cagayan River is a wide body of water that is navigable and the source of fresh water for a lot of people in the Cagayan Valley. It stretches from Aparri to Dupax Del Sur, Nueva Vizcaya near the Nueva Ecija province and Pantabangan Dam. The river and its tributaries cover practically the entire valley of 4 provinces (Cagayan, Isabela, Quirino and Nueva Vizcaya).
Reviewing these photos and trying to remember the places is like reliving the journey. I am sure there has been a lot of changes since I took these photos in February 2007. Perhaps there have been substantial developments along the highways and there are more people living in those communities we passed by. Perhaps, too, there is more vehicular traffic along these roads, a definite sign of progress in these areas. I just hope that there would be more and not less trees in those hills we passed along the way.
–
Caught (up) in traffic 