Central Luzon Link Expressway to partially open Dec 2020

Last year, the Department of Public Works and Highways announced that the first 4.1 km section of the Central Luzon Link Expressway was nearly completed. Part of Package 1 of the major infrastructure project, the four-lane 30-kilometer expressway will connect the cities of Tarlac and Cabanatuan City. That section will also traverse the municipalities of La Paz, Tarlac, and Zaragoza and Aliaga in Nueva Ecija.

Now, the DPWH has stated that they are looking to partially open Phase 1 of the CLLEX to motorists by the end of 2020. According to DPWH Undersecretary for Unified Project Management Office (UPMO) Operations and Technical Services Emil K. Sudain, the 30-kilometer expressway from the connection of SCTEX and TPLEX is 82% complete. It is now being fast-tracked with the aim of 25 kilometers being opened by December 2020.

Sadain added that despite work being suspended last March due to quarantine, the first three contract packages and substantial portions of package 4 can be done this year. This will be made possible with the full blast construction activities. Construction on the expressway resumed last May 5 while also adhering to the DPWH's strict health and safety protocols.

Package 1 (CP-1) or the 4.1-kilometer section of CLLEX is already complete and includes the 300-meter temporary off- and on-ramps constructed at the Rio Chico River Bridge Section. Meanwhile, the 6.4-kilometer Package 2 (CP-2) is 94.78% finished and covers the construction of the 1.5-kilometer Rio Chico River viaduct, 42-meter Sta. Lucia River Bridge, and 38-meter La Paz-Victoria underpass bridge.

Package 3 (CP-3), on the other hand, is now 67.83% complete and sees the construction of the 9.2-kilometer section which includes the building of the 42-meter Guimba-Aliaga underpass bridge and Aliaga interchange. Finally, Package 4 (CP-4) is 68.65 complete and involves the construction of the 10.3-kilometer Cabanatuan section which includes the Cabanatuan and San Juan interchanges.

Work is also being done on a 4.8 kilometer component of the expressway project. This stems from the junction of Carmen-Cabanatuan Road. Dubbed the Zaragoza Interchange section, it comprises of 2.8-kilometer access free road and a two-kilometer interchange ramp. That new road will cross over the embankment of CLLEX main expressway by an overpass.

Once CLLEX is finished, Phase 1 will cut travel time between Tarlac City and Cabanatuan City from 70 minutes to just 20 minutes. Also, the DPWH said that at least 11,200 motorists and commuters will benefit from this as it will ease traffic along Daang Maharlika by about 48%.

For those looking to travel to Central Luzon for the holidays this year, the partial opening of CLLEX will surely lessen travel time.

https://www.autoindustriya.com/auto-industry-news/central-luzon-link-expressway-to-partially-open-dec-2020.html

P30-B CCLEx more than halfway complete

By Arjay L. Balinbin, Reporter

THE P30-billion Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEx), one of the country’s largest infrastructure projects that is expected to ease the worsening traffic in Metro Cebu and help spur economic growth in the Visayas, is now more than halfway complete, its developer said.

“As of April 30, 2020, the overall Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract of the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway project stands at 56.86% while construction progress alone is at 42.04,” Cebu Cordova Link Expressway Corp. (CCLEC) President and General-Manager Allan G. Alfon told BusinessWorld in an e-mailed reply to questions on May 29.

He added that only a skeleton workforce was fielded to undertake necessary work at certain portions of the 8.5-kilometer toll bridge project during the enhanced community quarantine period.

“As to the project’s timeline, we are reviewing the pandemic’s impact on the target date of completion. Rest assured that all the teams involved in the CCLEx project continue to work hard towards completing it next year. Projecting, however, the exact month in 2021 is a challenge considering the current conditions,” Mr. Alfon said.

The whole bridge was originally scheduled to open in the month of March, in time for the commemoration of the 500th anniversary of Christianity in the country.

“With the transition to a more relaxed community quarantine, though, we can already accelerate work on the project’s different components,” Mr. Alfon added.

The toll bridge project, which is expected to benefit around 50,000 vehicles daily, will connect mainland Cebu in Cebu City to Mactan Island through Cordova, a coastal town in the province.

https://www.bworldonline.com/p30-b-cclex-more-than-halfway-complete/

Build, Build, Build projects on track for 2020, 2021 completion

Despite the close to three-month layoff due to the COVID-19 pandemic, several infrastructure projects under the government’s “Build, Build, Build” program are set to finish this year and the next.

According to Presidential Adviser for Flagship Programs and Projects Vivencio Dizon, the administration is also not shying away from big-ticket legacy projects and have several lined up already including the North-South Commuter Rail connecting Clark and Los Banos, as well as the Metro Manila Subway.

Set to finish this year are the Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3 which is now 76% complete and is expected to be delivered by December; and the Harbor Link connecting North Luzon Expressway to North Harbor is estimated to be completed by the end of the year; the 93%-complete Clark International Airport which is set to open by July; the Light Rail Transit Line 2 (LRT-2) East Extension by year end; and the Bonifacio Global City - Ortigas Center Link Road, which is 45% complete and will be delivered by December 2020 or early 2021.

“The ‘Build, Build, Build’, or unprecedented infrastructure program under the Duterte administration, is one of the key interventions that the government must do and must do swiftly in order to help us get out the mess that has been brought about by COVID-19,” said Dizon.

Next year, the Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge and Binondo-Intramuros Bridge are on track to be completed by February.

 “By 2021, we are also going to complete two bridges across the Pasig. So there will be a total of three new bridges across the Pasig. This is the most number of bridges we did within one administration across the Pasig River and we are even envisioning to start five more bridges through an ODA (official development assistance) from China,” added Dizon.

Rail projects that will continue are the LRT-1 Cavite Extension and Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT-7), which will be partially operational by 2021; the MRT-3 Rehabilitation Program to be completed by July 2021; and the Philippine National Railways (PNR) Phase 1 connecting Tutuban, Manila to Malolos, Bulacan, which is targeted to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2021.

https://www.zigwheels.ph/car-news/build-build-build-projects-on-track-for-2020-2021-completion

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Gov’t cites infra projects for completion in 2020, 2021

Presidential Adviser for Flagship Programs and Projects Vivencio Dizon said the government would deliver infrastructure projects under the “Build, Build, Build” program, which are targeted for completion in 2020 and 2021 despite the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) crisis.

During an online forum of the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines on Thursday, Dizon said these projects would help the country recover from the impact of Covid-19.

“The ‘Build, Build, Build’, or (the) unprecedented infrastructure program under the Duterte administration, is one of the key interventions that the government must do and must do swiftly in order to help us get out (of) the mess that has been brought about by Covid-19,” he said.

For this year, the government targets to complete the Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3, now 76-percent complete and is expected to be delivered by December; the Harbor Link that connects the North Luzon Expressway to North Harbor, estimated to be completed by the end of the year; the Clark International Airport, now 93-percent complete and is targeted to be delivered by July; the Light Rail Transit Line 2 (LRT-2) East Extension, which was 71-percent complete in October 2019 and is expected to be completed this year; and the Bonifacio Global City - Ortigas Center Link Road, which is 45-percent complete and will be delivered by December 2020 or early 2021.

Dizon, who is also president and chief executive officer of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), said the construction of two new bridges across Pasig River would be completed by 2021.

These include the Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge and Binondo-Intramuros Bridge, which are scheduled for completion by February 2021, he said.

“By 2021, we are also going to complete two bridges across the Pasig. So there will be a total of three new bridges across the Pasig. This is the most number of bridges we did within one administration across the Pasig River and we are even envisioning to start five more bridges through an ODA (official development assistance) from China,” he added.

Dizon further said the government would push through with its rail projects, such as the LRT-1 Cavite Extension and Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT-7), which will be partially operational by 2021; the MRT-3 Rehabilitation Program to be completed by July 2021; and the Philippine National Railways (PNR) Phase 1 connecting Tutuban, Manila to Malolos, Bulacan, which is targeted to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2021.

On the other hand, the government moved the target completion of the Bicol International Airport from July to next year, he said.

Dizon added that the administration would also pursue big-ticket legacy projects, including the North-South Commuter Rail connecting Clark and Calamba, as well as the Metro Manila Subway.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1104242

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Duterte names Aaron Aquino head of Clark International Airport Corporation

President Rodrigo Duterte has named outgoing Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency chief Aaron Aquino as head of the Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC), Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea said Wednesday.

Medialdea confirmed the appointment after Duterte tapped PDEA Northern Mindanao head Wilkins Villanueva as the new director general of PDEA.

“Mr. Aquino's nomination as the President/CEO of Clark International Airport Corporation has been approved by President Rodrigo Duterte and is now forwarded to the aforesaid corporation's Board of Directors,” the Office of the Executive Secretary said.

A former police official, Aquino served PDEA for more than two years before he was moved to the CIAC.

In a statement, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque expressed Malacañang’s gratitude to Aquino for his “immense contribution” to the administration’s campaign against illegal drugs.

Roque also said Villanueva is “no stranger to drug law enforcement.”

“He has been working with PDEA for many years before reaching the agency's top position. We therefore believe DG Villanueva will lead PDEA and the fight against illegal drugs to greater heights with professionalism, passion and integrity,” Roque said. —AOL/KBK, GMA News

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/739956/duterte-names-aaron-aquino-head-of-clark-international-airport-corporation/story/

LRTA to reopen 3 LRT-2 stations

The Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) is planning to reopen three LRT Line 2 stations hit by a fire by September, an official said yesterday.

The LRT-2’s Santolan, Katipunan and Anonas stations were shut down in October 2019 after a fire destroyed a rectifier in the Katipunan area.

During yesterday morning’s Laging Handa briefing, LRTA spokesman Hernando Cabrera said the stations may be reopened in September if they are able to resume and complete the procurement process for the project next month.

“With the timetable that we are able to award (the contracts) within June, they would have July, August, until the end of September to make the temporary power supply system,” Cabrera said in the briefing.

Since last year, the fire left the three stations unusable as repairs were not immediately started.

The three stations’ closure was scheduled for nine months. The other stations, from Recto to Araneta Center, operated normally until the government shut down all modes of public transport as part of a lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019.

Cabrera also said there would be no fare increase for LRT-1 and LRT-2 once they resume operations.

The Department of Transportation earlier said the LRT-1 will carry 158 passengers per trip or 12 percent of its capacity while the LRT-2 will carry 160 passengers per trip or 10 percent of its capacity.

‘Apprehended’

The National Capital Region Police Office has offered its services to the LRTA. Passengers who defy social distancing and other quarantine protocols or instigate disorder would be “apprehended,” according to NCRPO chief Maj. Gen. Debold Sinas.

“We have a plan to deploy 500 personnel in different LRT stations, depending on their request. We will be reasonably strict,” Sinas said.

Simulation

Also yesterday, the NCRPO and the LRTA staged a simulation exercise at the LRT-2’s Recto station to prepare for the enforcement of social distancing once the rail lines resume operations.

At least 500 police trainees, acting as passengers, took a train ride to and from Cubao.

LRTA administrator Reynaldo Berroya appealed to commuters to use the ticket vending machines and allot extra time for their trips since each train will carry a maximum of 160 passengers and only two persons will be allowed in elevators.

Passengers will be provided monobloc chairs while waiting in line.

Security personnel will not frisk passengers, who will not be allowed entry if they fail to wear masks and have their bags inspected. Neil Jayson Servallos, Rey Galupo

https://www.philstar.com/nation/2020/05/27/2016729/lrta-reopen-3-lrt-2-stations