THE Department of Public Works and Highways announced the opening of the P24.4-billion Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX) that would cut travel time from Tarlac City to Binalonan, Pangasinan.
More than 20,000 vehicles to use the 67.9-kilometer highway a day, DPWH Secretary Mark Villar said.
“The Duterte administration is fast-tracking the construction of all projects to ensure that communities are livable, safe and accessible. The opening of this highway would cut travel time from Tarlac to Urdaneta by more than 70 percent and would ensure easy access to many tourist destinations in Pangasinan,” Villar said.
“This is only one of the many infrastructure investments which we hope to put in place to increase competitiveness and ease of doing business outside of Metro Manila. By improving our road network, we hope to strengthen agricultural and rural enterprise productivity as well as urban and rural tourism,” he added.
Villar said the construction of 7.53-kilometer Binalonan-Pozzurubio part of the TPLEX is 61 percent complete and is expected to be opened by December.
“We want the next segment completed in time for the Christmas season as it would cut travel time to Baguio City and other areas of Northern Luzon and Cordillera,” the secretary said.
“Procrastinating contractors have no place in this administration. The moment we delay our projects, we deny the Filipino people their right to demand prudent use of their tax money,” he added.
The whole 88.85-kilometer stretch of TPLEX is expected to be ready by 2018 .
The 13.38-kilometer Pozorrubio, Pangasinan to Rosario, La Union segment will be completed in April of that year.
The expressway is a P24.4-billion Public Private Partnership project, with Private Infra Dev Corp. (PIDC) as proponent. It is a four-lane asphalt-overlaid concrete road, complete with shoulder, drainage, bridge, and underpass components.
When the TPLEX is completed, it is expected to serve 100,000 vehicles per day.