Cordova toll bridge extension to break ground in mid-2024
MANILA, Philippines -A unit of Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) is targeting to start construction of the extension segment of the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEx) to Cebu City roads next year in a bid to further spur vehicle volume.
Allan Alfon, president and general manager of CCLEX Corp. (CCLEC), told the Inquirer they were making some preparations before the civil works for the toll road expansion.
“[We’re] hoping to start construction mid next year,” he said.
READ: CCLEX management eyes to start construction of bridge extension by 2024
Rogelio Singson, MPTC president and CEO, recently told reporters about the need to link the 8.9-kilometer (km) toll bridge to city roads, including Bacalso, to improve daily vehicle volume.
At current rate, he said only 40 percent of the projected 60,000 daily motorists was being recorded.
The toll bridge connects mainland Cebu from Cebu City to Cordova town in Mactan Island. It has a design speed of 60 to 80 kilometers per hour and a navigational clearance of 52 meters, allowing shipping traffic below.
The P33-billion CCLEX, the third bridge built to ease traffic in Metropolitan Cebu, was inaugurated in April last year. The civil works for CCLEX began on July 5, 2018.
Apart from the city road extension, CCLEC is currently working on the P1-billion ramp project linking CCLEx to Guadalupe City.
READ: MPTC unit targets to complete CCLEx Guadalupe ramp in 2026
It is targeted to be completed by 2026. Groundbreaking ceremony was held in November last year.
The 2-km infrastructure project can add about 10,000 to 12,000 vehicles traversing the toll road per day.MPTC has been ramping up its expansion projects as it prepares for the projected growth in vehicle volume after the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions. This year, MPTC has estimated a 20-percent growth in traffic volume and revenues.
MPT South Management Corp., a unit of MPTC, is spending about P12 billion in the next two years to complete the entire stretch of the 45-km Cavite-Laguna Expressway (Calax) and the 7.7-km Manila-Cavite Expressway (Cavitex) C-5 Link by 2025.
Calax is a toll road linking Cavitex and South Luzon Expressway. Cavitex C-5 Link, meanwhile, links motorists from Makati and Taguig to Parañaque, Las Piñas and Cavite.
NLEx Corp., meanwhile, is allocating P15 billion next year for the construction of the third Candaba viaduct at NLEx and the lane expansion of the road linking San Fernando in Pampanga and the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway.
