The expansion of the 18-kilometer Central Luzon Link Expressway (CLLEX)  is targeted to be completed by the first half of 2023, according to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

In a report, Emil Sadain, DPWH senior undersecretary, said the agency is currently working on the completion of the additional 7-km segment from Guimba-Aliaga Road intersection to San Juan Interchange that will extend the already accessible 18-km section of CLLEX.

Sadain said  the expressway project in Central Luzon at the connection of Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX)/Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX) in Tarlac City is targeted by the DPWH to be operational up to San Juan, Aliaga, Nueva Ecija toward the first half of 2023.

DPWH is undertaking the construction of three interchanges, namely, Zaragoza, Aliaga and San Juan, that will allow motorists from the secondary and provincial roads to access CLLEX.

When fully completed, the 25-km CLLEX project will facilitate fast, safe, comfortable and reliable means of transport in Central Luzon as it forms an important east-west link for the expressway network of Region 3 to ensure a continuous seamless traffic flow for the motoring public from Metro Manila and vice versa passing through North Luzon Expressway, SCTEX/TPLEX, DPWH said.

This project is part of the government’s vision of easing traffic congestion and will shorten the usual travel time of 70 minutes between Tarlac City and Cabanatuan City to just 20 minutes, it added.

The project is one of the key infrastructures with funding assistance from the government of Japan through the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

It is also included in the Luzon Spine Expressway Network project aimed at reducing travel time from the northernmost part of Luzon, Ilocos, to the southern most part, Bicol, by over 50 percent via the construction of high standard highway network. – Myla Iglesias