Travel to Tagaytay to get faster; Silang interchange finally opening in Sept

MANILA  -After encountering years of delay due to right-of-way (ROW) issue, the Silang East-Aguinaldo interchange of the 44.57-kilometer (km) Cavite-Laguna Expressway (Calax) is set to welcome motorists by September as construction nears completion.

MPCALA Holdings Inc. (MHI), subsidiary of Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC), said in a statement on Monday that the Silang segment—which is much awaited by motorists wanting to travel faster to and from Tagaytay—had reached 91 percent progress. The company previously targeted to open this portion during the first quarter.

“Ongoing construction activities include the development of the toll plaza, concrete pouring for the main line and median barriers, as well as various finishing works,” the MPTC unit said.

Next in line will be construction of toll facilities, including road lights, signages and sound barriers. MHI is also working on putting up the toll collection system.

MHI finally secured the ROW for the 450-meter land owned by private company Uneco Land Corp. around March after reaching a settlement, allowing it to proceed with construction. The land stands along the alignment of the toll road.

In November last year, the tollway unit appealed for the release of the said property as the delays in the civil works had brought project cost up by 15 percent at the time. Data from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) showed that total project cost was pegged at P35.74 billion, bulk or P25.43 billion of which was for civil works.

Last Laguna interchange The construction of this Calax interchange has been delayed for at least two years due to the ROW issue as well as the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.

All the interchanges along the 18.07-km Laguna portion of Calax are already operational except for the Silang (Aguinaldo) segment.

Meanwhile, MHI president Raul Ignacio previously told reporters they were in the process of securing the ROW in the unopened segments—Kawit, Open Canal and Governor’s Drive—of the 26.5-km Cavite portion. Ignacio earlier said MHI was eyeing to open the entire toll road by next year.

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

MPTC chief finance officer Christopher Lizo earlier shared that the average daily vehicular volume in Calax was about 31,000, translating to P1.2 million in toll revenues per day. INQ