Though I am also involved on mapping in Canada, I still do not forget to keep updated with many infrastructure projects in the Philippines under the “Build, Build, Build” program under Rodrigo Duterte, as well as other major infrastructure projects under the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) not covered. Here is a list of some Philippine infrastructure projects I am working on since then:

NLEX Harbor Link

This expressway has opened in March 1, 2019, but it required some tweaks, such as the curved sections in Karuhatan (Valenzuela), the sections on Philippine National Railways (PNR) right of way, and the C-3 interchange (connects to Radial Road 10, and scheduled to open by December 2019). There is significant work modifying or deleting buildings affected by the expressway’s construction, and modifying the future connection with Radial Road 10 (a directional T interchange for the spur that connects to Radial Road 10).

Cavite-Laguna Expressway (Laguna section)

There is adjustments at the rotunda (roundabout) on Mamplasan Exit with SLEX, the new southbound lanes of Laguna Boulevard is marked open (except it needs some on-the-ground verification by other mappers), and South Boulevard, which connects to South Forbes Park and Ayala Westgrove Heights in Silang is extended east toward Laguna Boulevard.

Metro Manila Subway

Construction of this subway line, the first of its kind in the Philippines, began in March 2019, with only the Quirino Highway and North Avenue to be constructed. The whole route has been mapped, but since most portions are to be constructed soon, only the Quirino-North Avenue segment has been tagged as under construction.

Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway

Thanks to new GPX tracks and partial coverage of Bing imagery, portions of the Binalonan-Pozorrubio leg of the expressway has been realigned, and the southbound ramps of the Pozorrubio interchange has been corrected

Candon Bypass Road

It was already open in January 2019, but the bypass needed numerous additional edits like splitting it into a dual carriageway, adding a curved section on the approaches to a bridge in barangay Oaig Daya in Candon, and fixing the rotunda with another national road, the Candon-Galimuyod-Salcedo-Del Pilar Road.

Clark International Airport northern expansion

Another project under the Build, Build, Build program, it involved the addition of the future area of a new, modern terminal for Clark International Airport in Pampanga, and diversion of water flow of the Quitangil River to provide space for fill where the buildings, parking, and the future railway station to connect with the Manila-Clark Railway.

NLEX-SLEX Connector Road

Immediately after the partial opening of the NLEX Harbor Link is the groundbreaking of the NLEX-SLEX Connector Road, an unsolicited project which involves another elevated expressway that will connect Skyway in Pandacan, Manila with the NLEX Harbor Link in Caloocan. Some additional edits are done, such as the connection with Skyway and realignment of some sections of the elevated expressway to accommodate a future elevated route of the existing PNR tracks.

Skyway Stage 3

Construction of this expressway is continuing in Pandacan, Manila, as work is ongoing for the section that crosses a former container storage facility.

SLEX Toll Road 4 (extension to Lucena, Quezon)

Groundbreaking is done on March 26, 2019, alongside beginning of construction and engineering works, but I already made numerous edits for the future route of an extension of South Luzon Expressway. The first planned routes for the future expressway has been mapped as early as 2017, and the location of a future interchange with the existing mainline has been done as early as 2012, but as the project has been update numerous times, it required numerous painstaking edits which involved realigning the future road to follow existing Philippine government plans, drawing lots of land areas, from forests, to farmland, orchards and pastures, and marking possible overpass/underpass locations. The latest edits came within time of the groundbreaking, which involved a full redraw of the sections in Laguna, Batangas, and partially, Quezon, using existing map data, especially residential areas, which are being determined so the route will avoid dividing barangays into two.

STAR Tollway Pinamucan Bypass

Construction for this bypass route in eastern Batangas City has begun since 2018, but as another infrastructure project which is not yet visible on existing aerial imagery by Bing or DigitalGlobe, it required also painstaking edits to create a physically feasible approximate, which can be tweaked when newer aerials can be utilized.

Batangas City-San Pascual-Bauan Bypass

Another bypass project undertaken by the Department of Public Works and Highways, it involves construction of a 10 kilometer bypass which runs through rural areas of the city of Batangas, and the nearby municipalities of San Pascual and Bauan. Like the Pinamucan Bypass project, the lack of imagery that shows construction in progress means drawing an approximate route taking large residential areas in account.

NLEX Section 8.2

Though scheduled for construction in 2020, its route has been already drawn out, except for curved sections that appears to be physically infeasible. Some changes for this project involved drawing overpasses and underpasses and realignments of roads to be reconstructed. The future expressway will pass through many run-down squatters’ (or informal settler) areas, which are yet to be mapped, but may not need to be so since many of them will be demolished soon.

Southeast Metro Manila Expressway

The future route of this expressway has been drawn out in 2018, but as only the Skyway to C-5/Diego Silang Village leg is being constructed, most of the route has been tagged as proposed. The route may also need to be redrawn soon to keep with major updates, such as the proposed realignment of the C-5/Diego Silang and C-6 section so to avoid dividing existing residential areas in Taguig.

Central Luzon Link Expressway (CLLEX)

Mapping of this expressway project began in 2017, but as existing imagery do not reflect the ongoing reconstruction, most of the mapping are based on national government plans (under the Department of Public Works and Highways, with funding from Japan) as well as the existing irrigation system for the rice paddies on the area it will traverse, which are used to extrapolate a possible route.

Bicol International Airport

While nearing completion, its runway, taxiway and apron has been finished, and they are since mapped.

Tagum Bypass Road

Since the roads it will utilize has been mapped already, it just took a while to map this bypass project under the local DPWH office.

Flyover for Maharlika Highway in Tagum

Also under the same DPWH office that oversees the construction of the Tagum Bypass, it involves the construction of a 1 km flyover over the major junction with Pioneer Avenue (Route 909) and Apokon Road (Route 74)

Panguil Bay Bridge and approaches

A project under the “Build, Build, Build” program, it involved the construction of a 1 km bridge across Panguil Bay between Tubod in Lanao del Norte and Tangub in Misamis Occidental. Once opened, it will be the longest bridge in the Philippines after the San Juanico Bridge between Samar and Leyte.

LRT Line 1 South Extension

Slated to begin construction in April 2019, it will involve the construction of an elevated light rail system which will extend the existing LRT line between Baclaran in Parañaque and Roosevelt Avenue in Quezon City. As of 2019, only the Baclaran-Ninoy Aquino leg is to be built as right-of-way issues on the remaining sections are to be addressed.

While not all projects have been mapped yet (some of them are still in the design process), this provides a good idea for other Philippine infrastructure projects that may need to be covered in OpenStreetMap.