DPWH: Central Luzon Link Expressway now 96% complete

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) on Friday said the P11.811-billion Central Luzon Link Expressway (CLLEX), connecting Tarlac and Nueva Ecija, is nearing completion.

In a statement, the DPWH said the 30-kilometer CLLEX project is already 96% complete.

The first 18 kilometers of the project were opened to motorists in July last year. 

The opened portion 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 first 18 kilometers are being extended with an additional 11 kilometers by March 2023, which will include seven kilometers up to San Juan Interchange and four kilometers to Umangan-Julo Road at the boundary of Aliaga and Cabanatuan City before Felix Vergara Road and Daang Maharlika Highway, according to the DPWH.

"The CLLEX Project will support the country’s new vision for improving agricultural productivity under the administration of President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr.," said DPWH Undersecretary for Unified Project Management Office Emil Sadain.

"Using this toll-free high-standard highway, palay crops and other products from Nueva Ecija—the Philippines’ rice granary, including those coming from Region 2—can reach the market centers in Metro Manila much faster and cheaper," he added. 

The agency stated that construction of a four-lane expressway, including interchanges, overpasses, and underpasses, from Aliaga Section to Cabanatuan Section, which had previously been stalled due to unworkable portions and problems in acquiring road rights of way, is still ongoing.

The CLLEX is part of the Luzon Spine Expressway Network, which is aimed at reducing travel time from the northernmost part of Luzon, Ilocos, to the southernmost part, Bicol, the DPWH said.

The agency said that other than cutting travel time between Tarlac and Nueva Ecija, the partial opening in 2021 of CLLEX provided options to motorists and spread out traffic better, resulting in reduced transportation costs, benefitting farmers in the Central Luzon and Cagayan Valley Regions. 

Once fully operational, the expressway is expected to shorten the usual travel time of 70 minutes between Tarlac City and Cabanatuan City to just 20 minutes, the DPWH said.

The project is financed through funding assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The expressway, being a government project, is toll-free. —VBL, GMA News