The Roman Superhighway or Bataan Provincial Highway, formerly known as the Bataan Provincial Expressway, is a , two- to four-lane major highway that connects the municipality of Dinalupihan to the municipality of Mariveles in Bataan, Philippines. The entire road forms part of National Route 301 (N301) of the Philippine highway network.
Etymology
Roman Superhighway is named after Pablo Roman Sr., the former representative of Bataan who is the acknowledged father of the export processing zone known as Bataan Export Processing Zone (BEPZ; now known as Freeport Area of Bataan (FAB) since June 30, 2010).
History
Construction of the Roman Superhighway began on April 7, 1973 during the Martial Law period and completed on July 16, 1977. The project was implemented by President Ferdinand Marcos. It was originally intended to be an expressway to serve BEPZ in Mariveles, Bataan, but it later became an at-grade highway when local residents built houses and businesses along it.
The fully concrete road has an effective width of , although some portions measured up to maximum. Phase 1 of the total project covered from Dinalupihan to Alauli Junction in Pilar and it measured long and complemented with 14 steel-concrete bridges. Phase 2 is measured and has 12 bridges.
Construction Development Corporation of the Philippines (CDCP) and Monark International worked on the project. CDCP accomplished its task in three years and three months. Phase 2 was completed by Monark in two years and 11 months. The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) designed and supervised the construction of the road project. Phase 1 costs , while was spent for Phase 2. The total amount includes the payment for the right-of-way of former agricultural lands. Some of the farmlots were even donated by the owners.
Throughout its existence, rehabilitation works were made on the highway such as applying asphalt overlay either on an existing concrete pavement or both the concrete pavement and the asphalt used on its shoulders and replacing an old pavement with a new one. Recently, some of its portions were widened to accommodate more motorists using the highway.
Route description
The road passes into nine towns (Dinalupihan, Hermosa, Orani, Samal, Abucay, Pilar, Orion, Limay, and Mariveles) and one city (Balanga) in Bataan.
The highway also serves a major utility corridor, carrying various high voltage overhead power lines through densely populated areas where land and right of way acquisition for a normal power line is impractical. Notable power line using the highway's right of way for most or part of their route is the Hermosa–Calaguiman line from Layac Junction in Dinalupihan to Samal. Various power lines also intersect with the highway on some portions, such as the Mariveles–Balsik 500,000 volt, Bataan Combined Cycle Power Plant (BCCPP)–Hermosa, Hermosa–Limay, GNPower–Lamao, and Lamao–Limay 230,000 volt transmission lines.