The infrastructure arm of San Miguel Corp. submitted an unsolicited proposal to the Public Works Department to extend the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway to San Juan, La Union from Rosario for P23.95 billion.
San Miguel Holdings Corp. said the project would involve a 59.4-kilometer four-lane toll road starting from the exit of TPLEx in Rosario to San Juan. The Rosario section of the expressway is expected to be completed this year, while its Pozorrubio section opened in December 2017.
The extension project would be divided into three segments, with the first segment spanning 18 km from Rosario to Tubao. The second segment will stretch 23 km from Tubao to Naguilian and the last segment will run 18.4 km from Naguilian to San Juan.
San Miguel’s unsolicited proposal was submitted in February, subject to evaluation by DPWH as to its completeness.
San Miguel said the project aimed to promote the development of Northern Luzon and facilitate connectivity to Central Luzon and Metro Manila through high-speed and secured access.
San Miguel-led Private Infra Dev Corp. holds the concession for TPLEx, an 88.85-km, four-lane, high-speed toll road that connects Northern Luzon to Manila. It is designed to integrate with other major toll roads such as North Luzon Expressway and Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway.
The construction of TPLEx began in 2010 in three phases. The first was completed in April 2014, running from Tarlac City to Carmen, Pangasinan.
The second stretching from Carmen to Urdaneta was completed in December 2014. The third section from Urdaneta to Rosario, La Union is expected to be completed in 2018.
TPLEx reduced travel time from Tarlac City to Gerona from 45 minutes to 10 minutes, benefitting 8,000 vehicles per day.
It reduced travel time from Tarlac City to Paniqui, Tarlac from one hour to 15 minutes and the travel time from Tarlac to Rosales from two hours to 30 minutes.
It also cut travel time from Tarlac to Urdaneta from two hours to 30 minutes and the travel time from Tarlac to Rosario from 3.5 hours to one hour.