CLARK FREEPORT -- The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) targets to open to motorists the major segment of Central Luzon Link Expressway (CLLEX) Phase 1 leading to Cabanatuan City by the end of 2020.
DPWH Secretary Mark A. Villar said the CLLEX Phase 1 is now 82 percent completed and about 25-kilometer stretch is targeted to open by December 2020.
The DPWH chief added that the CLLEX project is a four-lane 30-kilometer expressway from SCTEX (Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway) and TPLEX (Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway) connection in Balincanaway, Tarlac City and ends at Daang Maharlika in Barangay Caalibangbangan, Cabanatuan City.
The P14.94-billion flagship infrastructure project is designed to facilitate the movement of goods and services from SCTEX/TPLEX to the eastern part of Luzon towards Cagayan Valley bypassing some town centers of Bulacan and Nueva Ecija, said Villar.
He added that the road, once operational, will cut travel time between Tarlac City and Cabanatuan City from 70 minutes to just 20 minutes.
At least 11,200 motorists and commuters would be served by CLLEX daily and ease traffic on Daang Maharlika Highway by about 48 percent Villar added.
DPWH Undersecretary for Unified Project Management Office (UPMO) Operations & Technical Services Emil K. Sadain assessed that with the full blast resumption of construction works due to recent work suspension brought about by Covid-19 pandemic, the first three contract packages (CP) and a substantial portion of CP-4 will be completed by the end of the year as civil works activities are now being fast-tracked with the contractors observing the construction safety guidelines issued by DPWH.
The project, funded by the national government and an Official Development Assistance (ODA) from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), is being implemented by DPWH-UPMO Roads Management Cluster 1 headed by Project Director Virgilio Castillo to provide a reliable road network in Central Luzon.
Sadain said that although work suspension order was imposed, CP-1 or the 4.1 kilometer Tarlac Section is already completed including the 300-meter temporary off and on-ramp constructed at the beginning of the Rio Chico River Bridge Section or CP-2.
He also reported that the 6.4 kilometer CP-2, which involves the construction of 1.5 kilometer Rio Chico River viaduct, 42-meter Sta. Lucia River Bridge, 38-meter La Paz-Victoria underpass bridge, is 94.78 percent completed.
Sadain directed that double efforts be exerted on the 9.2 kilometer CP-3 covering Aliaga section which includes the construction of 42-meter Guimba-Aliaga underpass bridge and Aliaga interchange which is
67.83 percent completed, and the 10.3-kilometer CP-4 or Cabanatuan Section which also covers Cabanatuan and San Juan interchanges which is 68.65 percent completed.
An additional 4.8-kilometer component of the expressway project from the junction of Carmen-Cabanatuan Road is the Zaragoza Interchange section, which comprises of 2.8-kilometer access free road and 2-kilometer interchange ramp that will cross over the embankment of CLLEX main expressway by an overpass, according to Sadain.