Metro Pacific plans to extend Cebu-Cordova expressway

MANILA, Philippines — The Metro Pacific Group plans to extend the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX) at both ends of the bridge to provide direct access to Cebu City and the airport.

The Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) – the parent of CCLEX Corp. (CCLEC) – is working on a project that will stretch CCLEX to the Cebu South Road, one of the main thoroughfares in Cebu City.

MPTC president and CEO Rogelio Singson said extending the CCLEX to the Cebu South Road could help the expressway gain additional motorists.

Further, Singson confirmed that there are negotiations with the Department of Public Works and Highways to expand the CCLEX on the Cordova side. If approved, CCLEX will be connected to the Mactan-Cebu International Airport, providing tourists with an alternative route to Cebu City.

Singson admitted that CCLEX has failed to meet its projected traffic, as it has yet to be linked to the main road of Cebu City and to the airport. Right now, motorists headed to Cebu City through CCLEX exit at the South Road Properties, and this is 10 minutes away from Cebu South Road.

Meanwhile, those coming from the airport travel roughly half an hour just to get to CCLEX.

To date, motorist volume at CCLEX averages 17,000 a day, peaking at 20,000 on weekends, but Singson lamented this is way behind the estimated traffic.

In an earlier interview with The STAR, CCLEC president and general manager Allan Alfon said the CCLEX may only hit its target traffic of 40,000 daily by 2025.

Alfon blamed this on the delays in the delivery of state projects that would boost trade and travel in Cebu. For instance, the government has yet to bid out the contract to operate and maintain the Metro Cebu Expressway (MCE).

The MCE will span 57 kilometers running from Naga City to Danao City, with the goal of bridging the north and south of Cebu. It is expected to cost P94.07 billion and the government wants the private sector to share in the project.

Singson said MPTC has yet to finalize the cost of expanding the CCLEX.

CCLEX, the architectural pride of Pangilinan-led Metro Pacific Group, is a cable-stayed bridge that links Cebu City and Mactan Island, and is itself a tourismmagnet for its design.