Calax toll road is 15% costlier amid lockdowns, inflation spike

CALAX-LAGUNA SEGMENT

Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) has spent an additional 15 percent on building the 44.57-kilometer Cavite-Laguna Expressway (Calax) due to delays in civil works and increase in construction material prices.

MPTC chief finance officer Christopher Lizo, in a press briefing in Cavite on Monday, told reporters that the project had already been delayed for 2.5 years following the imposition of lockdown measures amid the pandemic. He noted that higher input prices had also pushed up project cost.

Data from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) showed that total project cost was placed  at P35.74 billion, of which P25.43 billion was for civil works.

“We still think we can finish the project by next year,” he said.

The project is 93.72-percent complete. Subsections 5 (Silang East to Sta. Rosa), 6 (Sta. Rosa to Laguna Blvd.), 7 (Laguna Blvd. to Laguna Technopark) and 8 (Laguna Technopark to Mamplasan) are already operational.

Subsection 4, which covers Silang East and Aguinaldo Interchanges, is at 64-percent completion.
MPTC subsidiary MPCALA Holdings Inc. (MHI), however, has yet to resolve the right-of-way issue for this portion of the toll road. The Pangilinan-led firm said this has stalled construction of the drainage and bridge, excavation and roadway earthworks, among others.

“We’re still pursuing to complete the road in time for the Christmas rush to Tagaytay,” MHI president Raul Ignacio said.

Subsections 1 (Kawit to Open Canal), 2 (Open Canal to Governor’s Drive) and 3 (Governor’s Drive to Aguinaldo) are eyed for completion next year.

Lizo said the average daily vehicular volume in Calax was about 31,000, translating to P1.2 million in toll revenues per day. These figures are expected to rise with the opening of more interchanges and the increase in travels during the holiday rush.

Calax, a public-private partnership between DPWH and MHI, is a toll road linking Manila-Cavite Expressway and South Luzon Expressway.