The Philippine government has regularly developed socioeconomic plans to direct the nation’s progress through the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) and the National Priority Plan (NPP) (NEDA 2021). With the rollout of the Build! Build! Build! Program of the Duterte administration, most of the regions outside of Luzon have fortunately benefited from the infrastructure flagship projects such as roads and bridges. Unfortunately, some of these projects directly impacted vulnerable communities during and after implementation. This paper particularly explores the impacts of the construction of the Davao City Coastal Road on the vulnerable fishing communities along the shores of Davao Gulf where this road traversed. This paper presented the planning and implementation of flagship projects of the government to better appreciate the rationale of proposing the said coastal road project. By conducting surveys of the selected affected communities, namely Barangay Talomo, Barangay Matina Aplaya, and 23-C (Isla Verde); focus group discussions; key informant interviews; and a forum, this paper captured the impacts of the said project. These became the references to propose numerous policy recommendations to assist, alleviate, or lessen the impact and influence of building big projects such as the dikes and the coastal road in Davao City among the three barangays. These recommendations highlight the importance of community participation in planning and development, history and placemaking in these communities, and the communities as essential spatial aspects of the urban fabric. Moreover, these recommendations could become a reference for future big projects in the country.