MANILA, Philippines — Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. subsidiary MPCALA Holdings Inc. is spending P12 billion to construct and complete in three years the 27-kilometer portion or the Cavite segment of the 45-km Cavite-Laguna-Expressway (CALAEX).
MPCALA commenced yesterday the construction of the Cavite segment, which it targets to complete in 36 months.
The Cavite segment starts in Kawit, Cavite and will traverse the Imus Open Canal, Governor’s Drive, Dasmariñas, Aguinaldo Highway and Silang, which will connect to the Laguna segment comprised of Sta. Rosa exiting to Mamplasan, Biñan, Laguna toward SLEX.
Construction of the Laguna segment, which broke ground in June 2017, is ongoing.
“Our shared vision of a more connected Philippines is now coming to fruition. The Laguna section of the CALAEX project is also under construction and we expect to open the first sections of the Laguna portion sometime in the third quarter, as early as July this year,” MPTC president and CEO Rodrigo Franco said.
Upon completion, CALAEX is expected to cut travel time from 2.5 hours to under 45 minutes and will help decongest approximately 50,000 cars.
“The DPWH team and the Build Build Build team are truly making the public- private partnership work with ease as we witness another milestone for CALAEX. With the Laguna segment well underway and substantially completed by July of this year, we will simultaneously, push for the Cavite segment to meet Laguna in a timely manner, completing the project by 2022,” Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar said.
Dubbed as its most modern exrpessway project in the country, the CALAEX’ Cavite segment will have state-of-the-art and world-class features to ensure safety and security for every motorist, MPCALA officials said.
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The company said automatic license plate recognition system would provide additional vehicle identification, enabling barrier-less entry, while an improved RFID system will lead to higher and more efficient lane throughput.
Weigh in motion sensors will also be installed to detect overloaded vehicles and IP-based speed detection cameras and HD CCTVs will cover the entire expressway for traffic monitoring and incident detection.
“We are pleased that our project is moving as it should and jobs are being generated. As a socially responsible corporate citizen, we would like to add value to our presence, not just in terms of bringing solutions to the traffic congestion but as a source of livelihood for the Province of Cavite and Laguna,” MPCALA president and general manager Roberto Bontia said.
“The Laguna segment now in full swing will employ up to 1,200 personnel, and we expect to additionally employ close to 1,300 site and office personnel as construction progresses for the Cavite segment,” Bontia said.
MPCALA last January signed the P24.2 billion loan from a consortium of local banks for the funding requirements for the construction of the CALAEX project.
CALAEX is part of the network of toll roads which the MPTC is constructing and develo-?ping.
MPTC, the tollways arm of infrastructure conglomerate Metro Pacific Investment Corp., holds in its portfolio of projects the NLEX, SCTEX, CAVITEX and current construction projects C5-South Link, connector road, and the Cebu-Cordova link expressway in Cebu.
CALAEX will connect to CAVITEX and the C5-south link which will make transfers from Laguna, Cavite, Las Piñas, Parañaque and CP Garcia Avenue seamless.
