President Rodrigo Duterte will lead the opening ceremony of the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX), the engineering marvel that has become Cebu’s newest icon, on April 27, 2022.
The Cebu Cordova Link Expressway Corporation (CCLEC), builder of CCLEX, also announced that motorcycles with engine displacement below 400cc will be allowed to pass the expressway by July this year. This move is supported by a resolution passed by the CCLEX Bridge Management Board. Sidewalk for pedestrians and bikers will also be opened in July 2022.
The opening of the 8.9-kilometer CCLEX will happen on a historic date—the 501st commemoration of the Kadaugan sa Mactan or Victory in Mactan, which marks the victory of the warriors of Mactan under chieftain Lapulapu over the Spanish armada led by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan.
“We are happy and honored to have come to this point, opening the biggest infrastructure project in this part of the country,” said Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC) Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan. “We thank President Duterte for honoring us by being part of this historic event.”
“Not far from here 501 years ago, Cebuanos celebrated a victory in a pitched battle against a superior force. Today, we mark a different milestone, a modern victory not of arms but of engineering and construction that gave us such a beautiful structure that has now become an icon of Cebu,” Pangilinan added.
Work on the CCLEX started on July 5, 2018, with ceremonies marking the beginning of civil works. It is MPTC’s first toll road project outside Luzon. CCLEX has a design speed of 60 to 80 kilometers per hour (kph) and a navigational clearance or height of 52 meters to allow large vessels to pass underneath the bridge.
CCLEX will use an all-electronic toll collection system. To give more time to motorists to have the RFID sticker installed on their vehicles, cash payments will be accepted in the meantime. The full electronic toll collection will be implemented by June 2022.
“Our company is happy to complete this project and contribute to the economic development of the southern Philippines,” said MPTC President and CEO Rodrigo Franco.
MPTC is the largest toll road concessionaire and operator in the Philippines. Its expansion goals include establishing toll operations in the Visayas. CCLEC is a wholly owned subsidiary of MPTC.
Motorcycles
“We are happy to finally announce that motorcycles below 400cc will be allowed on the CCLEX. This is to make this facility more inclusive and accessible to residents and answer a strong clamor from motorcycle users,” said CCLEC President and General Manager Allan Alfon.
“We encourage motorists to have the CCLEX RFID installed on their vehicles, including motorcycles, in preparation for the electronic and automated toll collection by June,” Alfon added.
The CCLEX Bridge Management Board (BMB), composed of CCLEC president and the LGU-grantors, passed a resolution in February 2022 to allow motorcycles with engine displacement below 400cc, particularly 125cc to 399cc, to also use the expressway.
The BMB said that motorcycles have become the preferred mode of transportation in Cebu, with the Land Transportation Office (LTO) Region VII recording a total of 433,771 registered motorcycles below 400cc for the entire island of Cebu in 2020.
A study by the University of San Carlos-Center for Social Research and Education also found that motorcycle riders are willing to pay toll at CCLEX.
The resolution also said that CCLEX has a 24/7 traffic patrol crew deputized by LTO to enforce traffic laws as well as an emergency team to respond to incidents.
CCLEC will be announcing soon the opening of the online registration for RFID stickering for motorcycles with 125cc to 399cc engine displacement and when they can start to use the expressway.
Motorcycle driver are known to be reckless in terms of driving habit which may lead to accident towards other vehicles! So if they allow them to use cclx a detail policy concerning safety must be implemented and enforced as well to those 4-wheeled vehi les in order to avert future accidents!