A UNIT of Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) has hiked its investment for the construction of a ramp that will connect the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX) and Guadalupe City.
From P3 billion reported in April 2023, Allan Alfon, president and general manager of Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway Corp. (CCLEC), said they are now eyeing to spend up to P6 billion for the project.
“It might require higher investment, but the benefit of this project to Cebu City (is enormous),” he said in an interview over Sugboanon Channel’s Patigayon Cebu program on Monday, April 15, 2024.
Alfon said they’ve already completed and turned over the results of the parcellary survey to the Cebu City Government.
A parcellary survey is a type of land survey that involves the delineation and measurement of boundaries for individual parcels of land. This helps determine property ownership, tax assessments and land use planning.
Alfon said they have identified the affected locators who will need to be relocated to a better area that is being planned by the City. Once the relocation is done, construction of the ramp may take place in the second half of this year or by June or July. “We’ve committed to start the construction within the year,” said Alfon.
The CCLEX-Guadalupe ramp is expected to cater to 12,000 vehicles that need to traverse the CCLEX. This extension, about 1.5 kilometers long, is going to provide motorists from N. Bacalso and V. Rama avenues, particularly those from Barangays Guadalupe and Labangon and other nearby areas, access to the bridge which connects Cebu City in mainland Cebu and Cordova town in Mactan Island.
The project broke ground in November 2022.
According to the news portal of the Cebu City Government, the Guadalupe access ramp was part of the original concession agreement between CCLEC and the City Government during the previous term of Mayor Michael Rama when he served as chairman of the Regional Development Council.
Joseph Michael “Yumi” Espina, an architect and head of the City Planning and Development Office, said the project was well accepted by residents of Barangays Pasil, Pahina-San Nicolas and Ermita.
“In our barangay hearings, we explain to them the totality of this project which is the connection. We are trying to address the traffic problem in Cebu City,” he said.
With this project, Espina said, a third of the traffic going to Mactan Island will now use CCLEX, especially those going to the Mactan-Cebu International Airport.
The construction of the ramp will also pave the way for the clearing of the easement of the Guadalupe River.
On the completion of the ramp, slated for 2026, Alfon said travelers coming from Mactan Island heading to downtown Cebu City can proceed directly without needing to pass through the long stretch of the Cebu South Coastal Road on the South Road Properties. He said this support infrastructure allows the public to save on time and cost.
More than just easy access, the ramp project, according to Espina, will be designed as an added destination in the city. Plans to build a liner park, pocket gardens and boardwalk are being considered.
Meanwhile, Alfon disclosed that CCLEX is now hitting about 18,000 to 20,000 vehicles per day.
“Gladly, this can support our operations in maintaining the bridge and providing safe access for motorists,” he said. The 8.9-kilometer bridge is designed to accommodate 50,000 vehicles per day. / KOC