CLLEX now 96% complete

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) announced that the entire 30-kilometer Central Luzon Link Expressway (CLLEX) project is 96-percent complete.

The assessment was released after DPWH Undersecretary for Unified Project Management Office (UPMO) Operations Emil Sadain and Cluster 1 Project Director Benjamin Bautista inspected the construction works for the construction of four-lane expressway (including interchanges, overpasses and underpasses from Aliaga Section to Cabanatuan Section) last Friday.

The department stated that their progress was hampered “due to unworkable portions with problems in the acquisition of road right of way.”

In his report DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan, Sadain noted that the first 18 kilometers of CLLEX from Tarlac Interchange at the connection of Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) and Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX) in Balingcanaway, Tarlac City to Guimba-Aliaga Road in Aliaga, Nueva Ecija will be extended with additional 11 kilometers by March 2023. The additional stretch is made up of to include seven kilometers up to San Juan Interchange and four kilometers to Umangan-Julo Road at the boundary of Aliaga and Cabanatuan City before Felix Vergara Road and Daang Maharlika Highway.

The department shared that the partial opening of CLLEX back in 2021 not only reduced travel time between Tarlac and Nueva Ecija, but also cut down transportation costs, benefitting farmers in Central Luzon and Cagayan Valley Regions.

“The CLLEX Project will support the country’s new vision for improving agricultural productivity under the administration of President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr.  Using this toll-free, high standard highway, palay crops and other products from Nueva Ecija - the Philippines’ rice granary, including those coming from Region 2 can reach the market centers in Metro Manila much faster and cheaper,” Sadain said.

The CLLEX will form an east-west link for the Luzon expressway network to ensure continuous traffic flow for the motoring public from Metro Manila and vice versa passing through North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), SCTEX, and TPLEX.

Once it becomes fully operational, the CLLEX can provide a reduced travel time between Tarlac City and Cabanatuan City (20 minutes instead of the usual 70-minute pace).

The ₱11.811-Billion expressway has funding assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Photos from Department of Public Works and Highways

Also read:

CLLEX to open up to Aliaga, Nueva Ecija by mid-May

CLLEX 2 major segments completed—DPWH

Cabanatuan-bound CLLEX Segment to be partially open by yearend