MPCALA Holdings Inc. (MHI) has opened to motorists the Silang Interchange section of the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (Calax), extending the operating sections of the thoroughfare to 14.24 kilometers from 10 kilometers.
The opening of the section allows motorists to travel from Mamplasan in Biñan, Laguna up to Silang East, exiting at Tibig Road, in Silang. It has the capacity to serve 5,000 motorists, which will help decongest traffic along Governor’s Drive, Aguinaldo Highway, and Sta. Rosa-Tagaytay Road.
“We are grateful for the trust and continued partnership with the government of the Philippines in providing the much-needed mobility infrastructure in the form of Calax to help boost tourism and economic activity in the Calabarzon Region,” said MPT South President and General Manager Roberto V. Bontia.
Department of Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark A. Villar said Calax is a step closer to the government’s goal of connecting the northern and southern regions of Luzon.
“Calax is included in the Luzon Spine Expressway Network—a master plan aimed at increasing the high standard highway network by three-fold. We are now closer to our dream of connecting the northernmost part of Luzon to its southernmost portion. We are confident that we will be able to deliver majority of this high-impact project within the term of President Rodrigo Duterte,” he said.
For his part, Department of Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade said the opening of the new Calax section is the government’s response to the growing demand for better connectivity.
“It is part of our mandate to give Filipinos a more comfortable life,” he said.
The Toll Regulatory Board has approved the following tariff for Calax: P14 to P64 for Class 1 vehicles, P29 to P128 for Class 2 vehicles, and P43 to P192 for Class 3 vehicles depending on the vehicle’s entry and exit point.
Upon completion of the entire 45-kilometer Calax Project, it will have several interchanges located at the following locations: Kawit, Governor’s Drive, Open Canal, Silang (Aguinaldo) Highway, Silang East, Santa Rosa-Tagaytay, Laguna Boulevard, and Laguna Technopark.
Calax will cut travel time between Cavite and Laguna from 2 hours to under an hour. MPT South is a unit of infrastructure conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp.
Image courtesy of Roy Domingo