The fourth section of the P56 Billion, 45-kilometer, Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAX), the Silang East Interchange, is now open to motorists.
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), together with MPCALA Holdings Inc. (MHI) today (August 24) inaugurated the interchange which extended the expressway's operating sections from 10 kms to 14.24 kms.
The CALAX, a high-speed road network connecting Cavite and Laguna, targets to serve 45,000 motorists upon its completion.
The DPWH granted the project to MHI, a subsidiary of the Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC).
With the completion of the Silang East of CALAX, motorists can now travel from Mamplasan in Binan, Laguna up to Silang East, exiting at Tibig Road, in Silang.
The newly opened Silang East Interchange will be serving 5,000 motorists and help decongest traffic coming from Governor’s Drive, Aguinaldo Highway, and Sta. Rosa-Tagaytay Road.
"CALAX is included in the Luzon Spine Expressway Network -- a master plan aimed at increasing the high standard highway network by three-fold," according to DPWH Secretary Mark A. Villar.
We are now closer to our dream of connecting the northernmost part of Luzon to its southernmost portion. We are confident that we will be able to deliver majority of this high-impact project within the term of President Rodrigo Duterte," he added.
As approved by the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB), toll rates in CALAX will now range from PHP 14 to PHP 64 for Class 1 vehicles, PHP 29 to PhP128 for Class 2 vehicles, and PHP 43 to PHP 192 for Class 3 vehicles, depending on the vehicle’s entry and exit point.
Once finished, the CALAX will have several interchanges in Kawit, Governor’s Drive, Open Canal, Silang (Aguinaldo) Highway, Silang East, Santa Rosa-Tagaytay, Laguna Boulevard, and Laguna Technopark.
Regarded as the country’s most advanced toll road, it will cut travel time between Cavite and Laguna from 2 hours to under an hour.
“We are grateful for the trust and partnership with the government in providing mobility infrastructure in the form of CALAX to boost tourism and economic activity in CALABARZON,” remarked MPT South President and General Manager Roberto V. Bontia.
Aside from CALAX, MPTC also holds the concession rights for Manila-Cavite-Toll Expressway (Cavitex), North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), NLEX Connector Road, Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX), and Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX) in Cebu.