posted March 10, 2017 at 08:10 pm
by Darwin G. Amojelar [
manilastandard.net ]
A unit of Metro Pacific Tollways Corp.
and DM Consunji Inc. on Friday signed a P7.2-billion contract to build the
Laguna segment of the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (Calax) project.
“We plan to break ground next month,
three months ahead of schedule. By the end of 2020, when we inaugurate the
expressway, Calax will be the most modern expressway in the country with
state-of-the-art operation and tolling systems and environment-friendly
features,” Luigi Bautista, president and chief executive of the MPCALA Holdings,
said.
He said the Public Works Department
already delivered 16 percent of the entire right of way, enough to start the
construction of Calax.
Cavite–Laguna Expressway (CALAX)
(Photo from wikipedia.org)
Calax, one of the largest
public-private partnership projects, involves the financing, design,
construction, operation and maintenance of a four-lane, 47-kilometer
closed-system toll expressway connecting Cavitex and South Luzon Expressway.
The P35.4-billion expressway will
start from Cavitex in Kawit, Cavite and end at the SLEx-Mamplasan Interchange
in Biñan, Laguna.
The project will have eight
interchanges and one main toll barrier.
MPCALA also tapped Leighton Holdings
of Australia to build the Cavite side of Calax.
Bautista said the company was in talks
with several banks to finance the Calax.
“We are raising about P17 billion for
the project,” he added.
When the project is completed, travel
through the Calax will take only about 45 minutes from Kawit, Cavite to Biñan
in Laguna.
Aside from Calax, the Metro Pacific
group is constructing Segment 10 of NLEx Harbour Link, a 5.6-km elevated
expressway costing P10.5 billion and running from Valenzuela City to C3 in
Caloocan City. The project is expected
to be completed in the second half of 2017.
Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. earlier
signed a joint venture agreement with the city of Cebu and the municipality of
Cordova in April 2016 to build the P27.9-billion Cebu-Cordova Bridge project.
The 8.25-km bridge project, set to be
completed by 2020, will connect Cebu City to Mactan Island via Cordova.
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