The 30-kilometer Central Luzon Link Expressway (CLLEX) project is now nearing completion, with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) saying it will significantly reduce the travel time between Tarlac and Cabanatuan City to just 20 minutes once completed.
DPWH Sec. Manuel M. Bonoan said the 30-kilometer road link is worth P11.8 billion and is part of the Luzon Spine Expressway Network, which is the flagship road network program of the agency.
The CLLEX, according to Bonoan, is now 96 percent complete.
The Luzon Spine Expressway Network is a P633 billion worth project that will connect road networks from Ilocos Region to Camarines Sur. The project is divided into several phases, some of them were already completed while some are still under construction.
On the part of the CLLEX, Bonoan said the first 18 kilometers of CLLEX—from Tarlac Interchange at the connection of Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) and Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX) in Balingcanaway, Tarlac City to Guimba-Aliaga Road in Aliaga, Nueva Ecija—awill be extended with additional 11 kilometers by March 2023.
This includes seven kilometers up to San Juan Interchange and four kilometers to Umangan-Julo Road at the boundary of Aliaga and Cabanatuan City before Felipe Vergara Road and Daang Maharlika Highway.
“Other than cutting travel time between Tarlac and Nueva Ecija, the partial opening in 2021 of CLLEX provided options to motorists and spread out traffic better resulting to reduce transportation costs, benefitting farmers of Central Luzon and Cagayan Valley Regions,” said Bonoan.
Since the provinces that will benefit from the project are agricultural areas, DPWH Undersecretary for Unified Project Management Office (UPMO) Operations Emil K. Sadain said the CLLEX will support the country’s new vision for improving agricultural productivity.
“Using this toll-free high standard highway, palay crops and other products from Nueva Ecija - the Philippines’ rice granary, including those coming from Region 2 can reach the market centers in Metro Manila much faster and cheaper,” said Sadain.
Essentially an extension of the SCTEX and TPLEX, CLLEX will form an important east-west link for the expressway network of Luzon to ensure a continuous seamless traffic flow for the motoring public from Metro Manila and vice versa passing thru North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), SCTEX, and TPLEX.
Once fully operational, the expressway is expected to shorten the usual travel time of 70 minutes between Tarlac City and Cabanatuan City to just 20 minutes.
With funding assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the expressway will also facilitate better access to economic hub and areas of employment in Region 3 such as Clark and Subic.