Metro Pacific completes new section of Calax expressway, full completion seen by 2023

Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) led the opening of a new section at the 45-kilometer Cavite Laguna Expressway (Calax), which aims to improve road access in provinces south of Metro Manila.

Tollroad operator and MPTC subsidiary MPCALA Holdings Inc. said on Tuesday the inauguration involved the 5.2-km Calax Silang East Interchange, allowing motorists to travel from Mamplasan in Biñan, Laguna up to Silang East, exiting at Tibig Road, in Silang.

The Silang East Interchange was expected to serve around 5,000 motorists, MPCALA president and CEO Roberto V. Bontia said during the event, which was streamed online.

He said the entire Calax, which would cut travel time between Cavite and Laguna from two hours to under an hour, would be completed by early 2023.

“We are grateful for the trust and continued partnership with the government of the Philippines in providing the much-needed mobility infrastructure in the form of Calax to help boost tourism and economic activity in the Calbarzon Region,” Bontia said.

Also present during the event were DPWH Secretary Mark Villar, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, Cavite Gov. Jonvic Remulla and Mayor Corazon Poblete of Silang alongside officials of MPTC and parent company Metro Pacific Investments Corp.

According to MPCALA, the toll rates at Calax will now range from P14 to P64 for Class 1 vehicles (cars and vans), P29 to P128 for Class 2 vehicles (light trucks and buses), and P43 to P192 for Class 3 vehicles (large trucks).

Calax was among the Public Private Partnership projects launched under the Aquino administration.

Once fully opened, the project is expected to serve around 45,000 motorists per day. It will have interchanges at the following locations: Kawit, Governor’s Drive, Open Canal, Silang (Aguinaldo) Highway, Silang East, Santa Rosa-Tagaytay, Laguna Boulevard and Laguna Technopark.

Apart from Calax, MPTC operates the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx), Subic Clark Tarlac Expressway and the Manila-Cavite-Toll Expressway. Its ongoing projects include the NLEx Connector Road and Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway. INQ