CCLEX turns 1; Cebu City, Cordova receive share of tollway bridge’s income

The Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX) turns one this month with Cebu City and Cordova expected to get their share of the tollway bridge’s income this Friday.    /Photo courtesy of Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway Corp.

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX) turns one year old this month with the local government units (LGUs) of Cebu City and Cordova set to receive P1.69 million each as their respective shares of income from CCLEX’s first year of operation.

The amount is one percent of the expressways’ annual toll revenues since it opened to the public in April 2022, and is part of the Joint Venture Agreement between the Cebu Cordova Link Expressways Corp. (CCLEC), the expressway’s management, and the two LGUs.

The one percent share is to be remitted no later than April 30 of each year throughout the 45-year concession period.

However, since April 30 of this year falls on a weekend, the LGUs will be receiving their income share on Friday, April 28.

In a separate interview, Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama said the city’s share in the bridge’s income would go to the city’s General Funds, which would be used to fund the activities included in the city’s annual plans.

CCLEX traffic going up

In a press conference on Thursday afternoon, April 27, 2023, Allan Alfon, president and general manager of CCLEC, said that CCLEX’s traffic has consistently been increasing month-to-month and has catered to about four million users within one year.

“For the first year of operations, we are happy that we are almost hitting our projections. Our projections were optimistically high before because we thought COVID will not hit us, but so far since the economy is starting to revive, Cebu’s economy is reviving, our average daily traffic is also increasing,” he told reporters.

On a daily average, CCLEX caters to almost 17,000 users during weekends and from 12,000 to 14,000 users on weekdays.

Alfon said traffic on CCLEX goes up on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, while it becomes lean on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Peak hours recorded for traffic in CCLEX are between 7 a.m. to 10 a.m.

Of the 3.6 million vehicles that used the 8.9-kilometer modern tall expressway in the first year of its operations, about 30 to 40 percent of these are under the Class 1 vehicles category (or motorcycles 400cc and up, cars, pickups, and small vans), while 20 percent belongs to the Class 2 vehicles, at least 15 percent for the Class 3 vehicles (big trucks), and majority of the remaining are Class 1M or motorcycles.

CCLEC executives led by CCLEC president and general manager Allan Alfon (3rd from left) answer questions from Cebu media during a press conference on Thursday, April 27, 2023.

Other developments

Alfon also shared that the acceptance of motorists on the use of RFID or cashless payment is “quite high” and is almost hitting 100,000 accounts of RFIDs.

Of the number, the active users are now at 20 percent.

Moreover, CCLEC is also set to open its temporary food park while preparation of a permanent Drive and Dine facility is also underway.

CCLEC is also eyeing to already open its pedestrian and bike lanes in May this year and the use of these lanes would be for free.

Alfon also shared that the CCLEC has already completed the installation of its solar farm as part of the CCLEC’s efforts toward sustainability.

Once this solar farm is powered by the end of April 2023, it is expected to save 50 percent of its power cost.

CCLEX, the first toll road project outside Luzon of Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC), connects mainland Cebu through Cebu City’s South Road Properties to the Mactan Island through the Municipality of Cordova.         /rcg

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