Construction works on the 18-kilometer Laguna section of the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAX) project have officially begun.
The Laguna section is part of the proposed 45-kilometer closed-system, modern-tolled CALAX project that is expected to be completed by 2020.
The entire expressway project will require an investment of P35.425 billion.
“The road construction project from Tirona Highway to the end of Greenfield near Mamplasan Exit, Laguna will be closely monitored so that by 2020, our travel time from CAVITEX (Cavite Expressway) to SLEX (South Luzon Expressway) will be reduced to only 45 minutes,” Secretary Mark Villar of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said in a statement.
MPCALA Holdings, Inc. of the Metro Pacific Group won in 2015 the CALAX project, to be built under a public-private partnership scheme. The 35-year concession includes the financing, construction, operation, and maintenance of CALAX.
Last March, MPCALA Holdings signed a contract with construction company DM Consunji, Inc. relating to the Laguna segment of the project, which will involve constructing a four-lane highway that will have four interchanges from Aguinaldo Interchange to the existing Mamplasan Interchange of SLEX in Biñan, Laguna.
Villar has affirmed DPWH’s commitment to speed up the acquisition of road right-of-way so that the contractor can undertake the project right away.
“Knowing what is at stake with this project that will benefit many generations to come, DPWH will give its all to deliver everything we can and finish the project by 2020,” Villar remarked.
CALAX will start from CAVITEX in Kawit, Cavite and end at the SLEX-Mamplasan Interchange in Biñan, Laguna. The project will have interchanges in eight locations: Kawit, Open Canal, Governor’s Drive, Aguinaldo Highway, Silang East, Sta. Rosa-Tagaytay Road, Laguna Boulevard, and Technopark.
“CALAX will be one of the most advanced highways in the Philippines. It is expected to ease traffic congestion along Governor’s Drive, Aguinaldo Highway and Santa Rosa- Tagaytay Road,” Villar noted.
Image courtesy of mapichai at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
