CITY OF SAN FERNANDO ---The construction of the 35.7-kilometer Central Luzon Link Expressway (CLLEx) will resume in the second quarter of this year.
The Central Luzon Regional Development Council said that problems that delayed the government's P11.8-billion major road infrastructure have been resolved.
Zambales Governor Hermogenes Ebdane Jr., head of the Central Luzon Regional Development Council Sectoral Committee on Infrastructure Development and the Regional Peace and Order Council, said the project got the green light after a dialogue last March 19 between officials and landowners affected by the project.
The major problem resolved during the dialogue was the delayed payment of right-of-way (ROW) claims for properties along the super highway which will connect with the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway south of the region and the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway in the north and provide an important east-west link.
“The project already has the green light now, as the affected landowners have already dismantled the barricades they have set up along the highway. So, we expect construction to resume in the second quarter We met with the concerned landowners and farmers, officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways Unified Project Management Office-Road Management Cluster 1, the National Economic and Development Authority, and Mayor Cristino M. Joson of Quezon, Nueva Ecija. We managed to solve the problem out of the box,” said Ebdane.
The construction of CLLEx, which started in May 2016, consists of five contract packages, three of which have already been finished.
Upon completion, the expressway will shorten travel time between Tarlac City and Cabanatuan City from 70 minutes to 20 minutes.
The four-lane expressway will provide alternative route expected to decongest traffic along the Pan Philippine Highway between Tarlac City and San Jose City in Nueva Ecija.
CLLEX is part of the Luzon Spine Expressway Network which is planned to extend from the northernmost part of Luzon, Ilocos, to the southernmost part, Bicol.
“This will also form an important east-west road link in Region III, and provide safe, fast and reliable connection to Metro Manila and other critical development areas in Central Luzon,” Ebdane added.