DPWH to bid out tollroad to Nueva Ecija

The Department of Public Works and Highways is planning to bid out the first stage of a planned public private partnership (PPP) tollroad deal linking Tarlac province to San Jose City in Nueva Ecija province within the year, a government official said last week.

Public Works Undersecretary Rafael Yabut told reporters that the first stage of the project, known as Central Luzon Link Expressway (CLLEx), covers a roughly 30-kilometer stretch starting at the Luisita interchange and end in Cabanatuan City.

The first phase, which will also link the Subic Clark Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) and Tarlac–Pangasinan–La Union Expressway (TPLEx) along its alignment, would be funded by a Japanese overseas development assistance (ODA) loan and will be bid out “before the end of the year.”

The second phase will cover a 23-km stretch starting in Cabanatuan City and end in San Jose City, Yabut said.

He said the 23-km phase would be bid out under the PPP program, including the operations and maintenance of the entire 53-km CLLEx.

Yabut said the PPP component would be bid out possibly in the middle of 2015.

DPWH said CLLEx would help decongest traffic on the Pan-Philippine Highway and support the socio-economic development of the regional growth pole cities of Tarlac and Cabanatuan.

Yabut noted that the link between SCTEx and TPLEx was crucial in providing seamless travel to central and northern Luzon from Metro Manila.

Myra Reinoso, chief finance officer of Private Infra Development Corp., said on Friday that they were set to extend TPLEx by 13.72-kilometers to Urdaneta by December 2014, assuming no strong storms would push back the timetable.

Private Infra, the builder of TPLEx and backed by San Miguel Corp. and DMCI Holdings Inc., said earlier that 23-km of TPLEx was already opened.

The remaining 25.83-kilometer section from Urdaneta to Rosario, La Union, will be completed the following year, a full three years ahead of the original 2018 target, the company said earlier.