A unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. has bagged the approval of the Cebu City Council to proceed with the P27.9-billion Cebu-Cordova bridge project, an 8.25-kilometer tollroad that is expected to be opened in four years, a company executive said.
The development marked progress in the infrastructure giant’s first tollroad project in the country outside Luzon, where it operates the North Luzon Expressway, Subic Clark Tarlac Expressway and Manila Cavite Expressway.
The company, whose business portfolio spans electricity retail, water services and hospital operations, also has tollroad investments in Thailand and Vietnam.
Metro Pacific, through subsidiary Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., has been looking at Cebu given growing business prospects there, including the areas of tourism and trade.
“In the latter part of 2017, we hope to start construction [of the bridge],” Rodrigo Franco, CEO and president of Metro Pacific Tollways, said. “The target is to open by 2020.”
Franco said Metro Pacific Tollways would sign within the month the joint venture with stakeholders in Cebu’s local government. He added that the company would still require additional approvals from the Toll Regulatory Board. The final completion of the project is likewise subject to the timely acquisition of right of way.
The Cebu-Cordova bridge would provide a third link between Cebu and Mactan, where the Mactan-Cebu International Airport is located. The company said the project would also decongest “worsening” traffic at two other bridges, the Marcelo Fernan Bridge and Mandaue Bridge.
The project will be implemented through an unincorporated joint venture among Metro Pacific Tollways, the City of Cebu and Municipality of Cordova.
Metro Pacific Tollways said the project would include the construction of the connections to Cebu City and Cordova, the main bridge structure, viaduct, causeway, roadway and toll facilities. It is located around 7.5 km south of the Mandaue Bridge and will take off from the Cebu South Coastal Road crossing the Mactan channel to Mactan Island.
Funding for the project was expected to come from a combination of loans from local banks and equity contribution, the company added.
Metro Pacific Tollways’ core profit hit P2.6 billion in 2015, up 19 percent year-on-year due to strong traffic growth and as it increased its shareholdings in NLEx.