MPIC unit set to start work on P9-B tollroad

Infrastructure holding firm Metro Pacific Investments Corp. plans to start building next month a new P9-billion tollroad that will connect C-5 in Taguig to Coastal Expressway (R-1) along Manila Bay.

The 7.6-kilometer tollroad called C5 Link Expressway project will be undertaken by Cavitex Infrastructure Corp., which is part of MPIC unit Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC).

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange Thursday, MPIC said the tollroad project was part of the existing concession of Cavitex for the Manila-Cavite Toll Expressway network. Cavitex is the operator of the R-1 tollroad.

The disclosure said the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) was required under the concession to issue the notice to proceed with the construction of the project once an independent consulting firm has issued a certification under the toll operation agreement on the availability of the right of way for the alignment approved by the Department of Public Works and Highways.

A final engineering design was now undergoing final review alongside construction schedules and costs, the disclosure added.

Aside from the approval in principle by the TRB, MPIC said the project also received the favorable endorsement of Parañaque City as well as the issuance of the environmental compliance certificate from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

“When completed, it will provide relief to traffic congestion in Parañaque City, particularly the residents of Merville, Moonwalk and Multinational villages and will provide safe, fast and convenient expressway travel for its users in the Cavite, Las Piñas, Parañaque, Taguig and Makati and nearby areas that will benefit from the new expressway,” the disclosure said.