TPLEX up for completion this year —DPWH

The government is on track to complete the expressway connecting Tarlac and La Union, the Department of Public Works and Highways said over the weekend.

"This year, we will also complete the remaining section of Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX)," DPWH Secretary Mark Villar said in an emailed statement.

The P24.415-billion,  89.31-kilometer expressway project from Tarlac City in Tarlac to Rosario in La Union involves the design, financing, construction, operation, and maintenance by the private sector.

It is funded by Private Infra Dev Corporation (PIDC) — a consortium led by Rapid Thoroughfares Inc., Grand Trackway Holdings Inc., DMCI Holdings Inc., and DM Consunji Inc. — under a build-transfer-operate (BOT) scheme.

Once complete, the project is expected to reduce the travel time from Tarlac to Rosario by an hour from the current 3.5 hours, with 20,000 vehicles expected daily.

Aside from the TPLEX, Villar said the government aims to complete the feasibility studies for the 19.2-kilometer Panay-Guimaras-Negros Link Bridge, and the 23-kilometer Davao City Expressway this year.

"On top of that, DPWH also aims to construct under President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s administration, a total of 1,101 kilometers of new high-standard highways and expressways in Luzon, Cebu, and Davao and implement the Luzon Spine Expressway Network Program that will cut travel time from Ilocos to Bicol from 19 hours to just eight hours," said Villar.

The government seeks to spend P8 trillion for infrastructure projects until 2022 under the Build, Build, Build program, largely funded by government revenues from taxes. —Jon Viktor Cabuenas/LBG, GMA News