2 key segments of Central Luzon Link Expressway completed —DPWH

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) on Friday announced that two segments of the P15-billion Central Luzon Link Expressway (CLLEX) Project Phase 1, leading Cabanatuan City, have been completed.

“Construction of 4.1-km contract package (CP) 1 - Tarlac Section and 6.4-km and CP 2 - Rio Chico River Bridge Section [is] now 100% finished,” Public Works Secretary Mark Villar said in a statement.

“The completed sections form part of the 30-kilometer four-lane expressway project to connect and improve access between the two cities of Tarlac City and Cabanatuan City implemented by DPWH Unified Project Management Office (UPMO) Roads Management Cluster 1,” Villar added.

According to DPWH Undersecretary for UPMO Operations Emil Sadain, the contract package 1 also covers construction of a 300-meter temporary off and on-ramp to be used as exit in La Paz-Victoria Road while the contract package 2 includes the construction of the 1.5-kilometer Rio Chico River viaduct, 42-meter Sta Lucia River Bridge, and 38-meter La Paz-Victoria underpass bridge.

Based on recent ocular inspection in Nueva Ecija, Sadain said that the two remaining contract packages will be delivered to full completion by April 2021. 

The 9.2-kilometer contract package 3 covering Aliaga section which includes the construction of 42-meter Guimba-Aliaga underpass bridge and Aliaga interchange is 77% completed, while the construction of 10.3-kilometer contract package 4 or Cabanatuan Section which also covers Cabanatuan and San Juan interchanges is 84% completed, according to Sadain.

An additional 4.8-kilometer component of the expressway project from the junction of Carmen-Cabanatuan Road is the Zaragoza Interchange section which comprises of 2.8-kilometer access free road and 2-kilometer interchange ramp that will cross over the embankment of CLLEX main expressway by an overpass.

The CLLEX Project, Phase 1 begins from the connection of Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) and Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX) in Balingcanaway, Tarlac City and ends at the Pan-Philippine Highway or Daang Maharlika in Caalibangbangan, Cabanatuan City.

Upon full completion of the entire alignment, CLLEX Phase 1 will cut travel time between Tarlac City and Cabanatuan City from 70 minutes to just 20 minutes and around 11,200 motorists and commuters would benefit by CLLEX daily and ease traffic at Daang Maharlika Highway by about 48%. -MDM, GMA News