CITY OF SAN FERNANDO The Department of Public Works and Highways DPWH said the extension of Central Luzon Link Expressway (CLLEX) is targeted to be operational by June 2023.
The agency said it is eyeing the opening of the expressway up to San Juan, Aliaga, Nueva Ecija toward the first half of 2023.
DPWH Senior Undersecretary Emil K. Sadain said the agency's Unified Project Management Office - Roads Management Cluster 1 (DPWH-UPMO RMC1) is currently working on the completion of additional seven-kilometer segment from Guimba-Aliaga Road intersection to San Juan Interchange.
The new segment will extend to 25 kilometers the already accessible 18-kilometer section of the expressway.
Currently, the opened portion of the CLLEX runs from Tarlac Interchange at the connection of Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) and Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX) in Balingcanaway, Tarlac City to Guimba-Aliaga Road in Aliaga, Nueva Ecija.
The said portion has four-lane two-way with design speed of 100 kilometers per hour.
Sadain said DPWH is also undertaking the construction of three interchanges namely Zaragoza, Aliaga and San Juan that will allow motorists from the secondary and provincial roads to access CLLEX.
“When fully completed, this 30-kilometer CLLEX Project will facilitate fast, safe, comfortable and reliable means of transport in Central Luzon as it forms an important east-west link for the expressway network of Central Luzon to ensure a continuous seamless traffic flow for the motoring public from Metro Manila and vice versa passing thru NLEX, SCTEX/TPLEX,” he said.
The CLLEX project is part of the government’s vision of easing traffic congestion and will shorten the usual travel time of 70 minutes between Tarlac City and Cabanatuan City to just 20 minutes.
The project is one of the key infrastructures with funding assistance from the Government of Japan thru Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
It is included in the Luzon Spine Expressway Network projects aimed at reducing travel time from the northernmost part of Luzon, Ilocos, to the southern most part, Bicol, by over 50 percent via the construction of high standard highway network.