Two major segments of the Central Luzon Link Expressway (CLLEX) Project Phase 1 leading to Cabanatuan City have been completed, the Department of Public Works and Highways announced Friday.
Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar said the “construction of 4.1-kilometer contract package (CP) 1 - Tarlac Section and 6.4-kilometer CP 2 - Rio Chico River Bridge Section are now 100 percent finished.”
The completed sections are part of the 30 kilometer, four-lane expressway project that will connect and improve access between the cities of Tarlac and Cabanatuan in Nueva Ecija.
The CP 1, according to Undersecretary Emil Sadain, covers the construction of a 300-meter temporary off and on-ramp to be used as exit in La Paz-Victoria Road while CP 2 includes the construction of 1.5-kilometer Rio Chico River viaduct, 42-meter Sta. Lucia River Bridge, 38-meter La Paz-Victoria underpass bridge.
Recent ocular inspection in Nueva Ecija showed that the two remaining contract packages will be fully completed by April 2021.
The 9.2-kilometer CP-3 covering Aliaga section, which includes the construction of the 42-meter Guimba-Aliaga underpass bridge and Aliaga interchange, is now 77 percent completed while construction of the 10.3-km Cabanatuan Section under CP-4, which also covers Cabanatuan and San Juan interchanges, is 84 percent completed, Sadain said.
The expressway also covers an additional 4.8-kilometer component from the junction of Carmen-Cabanatuan Road 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.
CLLEX Project, Phase 1 begins from the connection of SCTEX and TPLEX in Balingcanaway, Tarlac City and ends at the Pan-Philippine Highway (Daang Maharlika) in Caalibangbangan, Cabanatuan City.
Villar said once the entire alignment is finished, CLLEX Phase 1 will cut travel time between Tarlac City and Cabanatuan City from 70 minutes to just 20 minutes.
Around 11,200 motorists and commuters would benefit from the expressway daily and ease traffic at Daang Maharlika Highway by almost 50 percent.