THE Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) believes that opening the Silang (Aguinaldo) section of the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (Calax) by the first quarter of 2023 is still “feasible.”
Public Works Director for Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Alex G. Bote said the delivery of right of way (ROW) for the said section was “slightly” affected by legal matters.
Bote noted, however, that the assistance of the local government units (LGUs) may hasten the settlement of the legal tussles.
“Slightly, we’re affected by ROW issues at Trial Courts, especially at Silang. But there’s a meeting at the site with the LGU that will assist us to settle such,” he said.
Last week, Silang Mayor Kevin A. Anarna said the local government unit is going to meet with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and private landowners to “speed up the completion of the project that is crucial to its development and achievement of cityhood status by 2025.”
Currently, the Silang (Aguinaldo) Interchange subsection of the Calax is at 64 percent completion rate. One critical portion of the expressway lacks a parcel of land roughly 450 meters long which prevents the company from opening another section of the Calax.
This fifth of the eight segments of the 45-kilometer expressway spans at 3.9-km, with 2×2 lane expressway from Silang East Interchange to Aguinaldo Highway in Cavite. Upon completion, this will serve more motorists, including the 298,000 residents of Silang, given the reduced traffic situation.
This has caused the company to commit to opening the said segment by the first quarter of 2023, a quarter delayed from the recent December 2022 commitment.
Despite the ROW problems, Bote is optimistic that the Calax will be completed within the first three months of 2023.
“Still, the target of completion up to Aguinaldo is feasible by first quarter next year,” he said.
Current average daily traffic is 33,000 from Mamplasan to Silang East interchange. This is expected to increase to 40,000 when the Silang (Aguinaldo) Interchange finally opens, thus, easing the usual bottleneck along the 41-km Aguinaldo Highway—the busiest main thoroughfare in Cavite—as well as Governor’s Drive and Sta. Rosa-Tagaytay Road.
To date, Calax’s operational segment spans 14.24-kilometer with interchanges at Greenfield-Mamplasan, Laguna Technopark, Laguna Boulevard, Santa Rosa-Tagaytay, and Silang East. Other interchanges of Calax, namely, Open Canal, Governor’s Drive, and Kawit, are targeted to be completed by 2023. Upon completion of the entire public-private partnership (PPP) project of the DPWH and MHI, it will connect to the Manila-Cavite Expressway (Cavitex) in Kawit, Cavite.