The Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX) is set to open this month. (Photo courtesy of Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway Corp.)
CEBU CITY – After four years, the 8.9-kilometer bridge that links Cebu City in mainland Cebu to Cordova town on Mactan Island will finally open to the public this month.
The statement released on the website of Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway Corp. (CCLEC) didn’t provide the specific opening date this month.
CCLEC, the project developer, envisioned the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX) as not only decongesting traffic in the two existing bridges linking Cebu City and Mactan, but also increasing economic activities in Cebu and throughout the Visayas.
The P30-billion toll bridge will use an all-electronic toll collection system to provide safe and seamless travel between Cebu City and Mactan, which hosts the Mactan-Cebu International Airport, Mactan Export Processing Zone, and some of the country’s premier resorts and hotels.
CCLEC implemented the construction of the project and monitored the operation of CCLEX through a joint venture agreement with the City of Cebu and the municipality of Cordova.
A major infrastructure project and soon to become part of Cebu’s iconic landmarks, the CCLEX is highlighted by its iconic crosses on top of the twin pylons of the cable-stayed main bridge over the Mactan Channel to highlight Cebu’s title of being the Cradle of Christianity in the Far East.
The artistically designed CCLEX would have two lanes in each direction and 51-meter navigational clearance for maritime traffic.
With its design speed of 80 kilometers per hour, CCLEX is expected to serve at least 50,000 vehicles daily.
Work on the CCLEX now includes cover piping and ducting as well as construction of safety barriers at the Cebu South Coastal Road on and off ramps.
Asphalting works on the different sections of the project are also underway.
At the toll plaza located in the Cordova side of the expressway, pavement works and assembling of canopy is being done.
The toll plaza has eight toll lanes—four lanes in each direction—with radio-frequency identification or RFID electronic payment for toll collection.
CCLEX is Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation’s (MPTC) first toll road project outside Luzon.
MPTC is the toll road arm of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. which is a publicly listed infrastructure company and a member of the Manny V Pangilinan Group of Companies.