The government, together with the Metro Pacific Investments Corporation, formally broke ground Monday, signaling the start of construction work for the Cavite Laguna Expressway or CALAX (pronounced as CALA-ex).
The 44.2-kilometer expressway, which will have four lanes, will connect the Cavite Expressway (Cavitex) and the South Luzon Expressway.
The project will commence at the Kawit portion of Cavitex and end at the Mamplasan Interchange of the SLEx.
There will be eight interchanges, namely: Kawit, Open Canal, Governor’s Drive, Aguinaldo Highway, Silang East, Sta Rosa-Tagaytay Road, Laguna Blvd., and Technopark.
The project, which has a P35.68-billion price tag, is expected to cut by half the travel time from Cavite to Laguna, to 45 minutes from usual one-and-a-half hours.
It is to be constructed through the private-public partnership scheme, where concessionaire MPCALA Holdings will have a 35-year operating term including the 5-year construction period.
DM Consunji Inc. will be the contractor for the project.
The Department of Public Works and Highways has created task forces to speed up the right-of-way acquisition, which constitutes the usual cause of delay for large infrastructure projects.