THE Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) on Thursday said about 83% of the 30-kilometer Tarlac-Cabanatuan segment of the P14.94-billion first phase of the Central Luzon Link Expressway (CLLEx) is expected to open by December.

The four-lane expressway is expected to ease traffic on the Pan-Philippine Highway (Daang Maharlika) by about 48% and support the economic development of Tarlac and Cabanatuan.

In a statement on Thursday, the DPWH said the construction of the 30-kilometer expressway from the connection of Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) and Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEx) in Balingcanaway, Tarlac City to Daang Maharlika in Caalibangbangan, Cabanatuan City is “82% completed and is being fast-tracked with about 25 kilometer stretch targeted to open by December 2020.”

The DPWH serves as the implementing agency of the flagship project that is funded by both the Philippine government and the Japanese government’s official development assistance (ODA).

The CLLEx Phase 1, targeted to be fully operational by the first half of 2021, is expected to cut travel time between Tarlac City and Cabanatuan from 70 minutes to 20 minutes.

The first phase includes the construction of 4.1-kilometer Tarlac Section (Package 1), 6.4-kilometer Rio Chico River Bridge Section (Package 2), 9.2-kilometer Aliaga Section (Package 3), 10.3-kilometer Cabanatuan Section (Package 4), and Zaragosa Interchange (bridge type) and access road of about 4.88 l.m. (Package 5).

Meanwhile, the P12.61-billion second phase of CLLEx is a 35.7-kilometer extension of the Phase 1, connecting Nueva Ecija’s Cabanatuan City and San Jose City.

The extension aims to provide a “free-flowing alternative route and decongest traffic along the Pan Philippine Highway between said cities of Nueva Ecija and the town of Plaridel in Bulacan Province,” the DPWH said. — Arjay L. Balinbin

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR