Right-of-way issues delays completion of CALAX subsection to Silang, Cavite

The completion of the subsection of the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAX) linking the toll road to Silang, Cavite, has been delayed due to right-of-way issues, its developer and operator MPCALA Holdings Inc. (MHI) said.

“The target date of opening of the Silang (Aguinaldo) Interchange has been moved several times, with the latest target completion, being December of 2022 again uncertain,” Raul Ignacio, president of MHI, said in a statement on Tuesday.

Ignacio cited right-of-way problems as the reason behind the slow progress of continuous works, such as construction of drainage and bridge, excavation and roadway earthworks, and installation of fence and coco net.

Nonetheless, he said that the company is “still pursuing to complete the road in time for the Christmas rush to Tagaytay.”

The Silang (Aguinaldo) Interchange is the fifth of the eight segments of the 45-kilometer CALAX.

It’s a  3.9-kilometer, 2x2 lane expressway from Silang East Interchange to Aguinaldo Highway in Cavite.

To date, 64% of this subsection of the CALAX expressway has been finished.

Upon completion, the subsection will serve more motorists given the reduced traffic situation. Current average daily traffic is 33,000 from Mamplasan to Silang East interchange.

This is expected to increase to 40,000 once the Silang (Aguinaldo) Interchange is opened.

“It will ease traffic congestion in the 41-km Aguinaldo Highway — the busiest main thoroughfare in Cavite,” Ignacio said.

The project is seen to provide efficient transport facilities for the economic zones of Cavite and Laguna. This is because apart from the Santa Rosa-Tagaytay Road Interchange, the Silang (Aguinaldo) Interchange will be a convenient alternative way out of CALAX for motorists coming from Metro Manila going to Tagaytay City once it becomes operational, according to Ignacio.

“So they will gain a lot from this upcoming project since travel time will be reduced,” Ignacio said, noting that commute is estimated at merely about 20 minutes as the interchange is 16 kilometers away from Tagaytay City proper via Aguinaldo Highway.

For his part, Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) chief finance officer Christopher Lizo said the entire CALAX project should have been completed last July 2020.

“We are technically 2.5 years delayed. For right of way, five years delayed,”
Lizo said.

“If there’s an opportunity to continue and if there's a continuous right-of-way, we will continue to build,” he added.

Despite the delays, Lizo said the company expects to complete the entire CALAX by December next year.

Currently, CALAX’s operational segment spans 14.24-kilometer with interchanges at Greenfield-Mamplasan, Laguna Technopark, Laguna Boulevard, Santa Rosa-Tagaytay, and Silang East. Other interchanges of CALAX, namely, Open Canal, Governor’s Drive, and Kawit, are targeted to be completed by 2023. Upon completion of the entire public-private partnership (PPP) project of the DPWH and MHI, it will connect to the Manila-Cavite Expressway (CAVITEX) in Kawit, Cavite. 

Beyond CALAX and CAVITEX, MHI’s parent firm MPTC, being the country’s largest toll road developer and operator, also has concession rights for North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), NLEX Connector Road, Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX), and Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX) in Cebu. —KBK, GMA Integrated News