DPWH, MPIC set to open portion of CAlaex on Oct. 30

Infrastructure giant Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and the Department of Public Works and Highways expect to open a section of the 45-kilometer Cavite Laguna Expressway (Calaex) south of Metro Manila on Oct. 30 this year.

On that date, motorists can use the Calaex’s entry and exit points at Mamplasan, Biñan Laguna and Sta-Rosa Tagaytay Road, Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar said on Tuesday.

Vehicle volume typically picks up during this period due to All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day from Nov. 1-2.

“It’s a long weekend and apart from paying respects to the dearly departed, I’m sure a lot of families would want to take advantage of this time to do some bonding in Tagaytay, Batangas and Manila,” Villar said.

He expects some 10,000 cars to use the two Calaex access points.

“This section will approximately be 10 minutes to drive—a big cut in travel time compared to the 45 minutes it currently takes to travel Mamplasan to Sta. Rosa-Tagaytay road,” Villar added.

CALAEx, among the Public-Private Partnership projects awarded under the previous administration, will link the South Luzon Expressway (SLEx) Mampalsan Exit to the Cavite Expressway (Cavitex) in Kawit, Cavite.

The project was bagged by Metro Pacific in 2015 following a rebidding exercise.

Villar said the whole toll road was expected to be finished by June 2022.

Calaex is expected to serve 50,000 vehicles and cut travel time from Mamplasan to Kawit, Cavite, to 45 minutes.

The DPWH led the final inspection of the “first sections” of the Calaex on Tuesday.

The inspection covered the Mamplasan Barrier onto Laguna Technopark Interchange, Laguna Boulevard Interchange all the way to Santa Rosa-Tagaytay Interchange.

“We jointly agreed to open and serve motorists who will travel this ‘Semana Santa,” said Roberto Bontia, president of MP CALA Holdings, a unit of MPIC.

Calaex will have four lanes and will also feature an automatic license plate recognition system for barrier-less entry to Calaex, IP-based speed detection cameras and high-definition CCTV cameras.

The expressway will have interchanges in eight locations: Kawit, Imus Open Canal, Governor’s Drive, Aguinaldo Highway, Silang, Sta. Rosa-Tagaytay, Laguna Blvd., Technopark, and a Toll Barrier before SLEx.

MPIC’s road portfolio—via subsidiary Metro Pacific Tollways Corp.—includes the North Luzon Expressway, the Subic-Clark Tarlac Expressway, the NLEX Connector Road, Cavitex and Cavitex C5 Link, and the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway in Cebu.