CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – The Department of Public Works and Highways revealed that the 30-kilometer Central Luzon Link Expressway (CLLEX) is now 96 percent complete.
Some progress of the four-lane expressway including interchanges, overpasses and underpasses from Aliaga Section to Cabanatuan Section were stalled in the past due to problems in the acquisition of road right of way.
Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Undersecretary for Unified Project Management Office (UPMO) Operations Emil Sadain said he and UPMO-Roads Management Cluster 1 Project Director Benjamin Bautista inspected on Friday continuing works in the area.
Sadain also disclosed that the first 18 kilometers of CLLEX from the Tarlac Interchange at the connection of Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX), and the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX) in Balingcanaway, Tarlac City to Guimba-Aliaga Road in Aliaga, Nueva Ecija will be extended with additional 11 kilometers by March 2023.
This 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 Felipe Vergara Road and Daang Maharlika Highway.
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.
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 to reduce transportation costs, benefitting farmers of Central Luzon and Cagayan Valley Regions.
“The CLLEX Project will support the country’s new vision for improving agricultural productivity under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. 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,” Sadain stressed.
Essentially an extension of the SCTEX and TPLEX, CLLEX will form an important east-west link for the expressway network of Luzon to ensure a continuous seamless traffic flow for the motoring public from Metro Manila and vice versa passing thru North Luzon Expressway, SCTEX, and TPLEX.
Once fully operational, the P11.811-billion infrastructure is expected to shorten the usual travel time of 70 minutes between Tarlac City and Cabanatuan City to just 20 minutes.
With funding assistance from Japan International Cooperation Agency, it will also facilitate better access to economic hub and areas of employment in Region 3 such as Clark and Subic.
