The Plaridel Bypass Road project, a new arterial road traversing the municipalities of Balagtas, Guiguinto, Plaridel, Bustos, and San Rafael in the province of Bulacan has been opened. DPWH Secretary Mark A. Villar, Minister Keiichi Ishii of the government of Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism, Undersecretary Emil K. Sadain and Japanese Ambassador Koji Haneda inaugurated the opening of the two lane project which bypassed the perennial traffic congestion at the core urban areas along Philippines-Japan Friendship Highway also called Maharlika Highway road section from Plaridel, Pulilan, and Baliuag to San Rafael. Shortening travel time to and from North Luzon Expressway via a new interchange at Brgy. Burol 2nd, Balagtas to the Philippines-Japan Friendship Highway in Brgy. Maasim, San Rafael, Bulacan, the infrastructure project is expected to accommodate 15,000 vehicles per day and cut travel time between NLEX-Balagtas to Maharlika Highway in San Rafael by as much as 30 minutes.