The construction of the 88.85-kilometer Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEx) is on track to delivering the entire thoroughfare as early as next year, a senior executive said.
Private Infra Development Corp. (PIDC) President Mark Dumol explained his company is nearing the completion of the expressway, which aims to cut travel time around Northern Luzon.
“Construction of TPLEx is well on track and while we still have to make a few more refinements, it is safe to use. We’re opening early as service to the public,” he said.
TPLEx is under a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) program being undertaken by the all-Filipino consortium, which includes DMCI Holdings Inc.
From end-to-end, the TPLEx will traverse 17 towns and two cities across four provinces, namely Tarlac, Pangasinan, La Union and Nueva Ecija.
Meanwhile, the 13.66-km Rosales to Urdaneta, Pangasinan, section of the expressway will be made available to motorists starting December 2014, to January 2015, to ease traffic flow to and from northern Luzon during the holidays.
PIDC, a unit of diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC), said the new section will be free of charge during the period.
“Many families will be traveling to and from northern Luzon during the holidays, and this is our company’s ‘Christmas present’ to them,” Dumol said.
He added that the section is also being opened to accommodate commuters wanting to travel to Manila for the visit of Pope Francis this January, after which it will be closed again to allow for finishing works.
In 2013 the company opened the Tarlac City – Paniqui section of the total 88-km thoroughfare, for motorists’ free use over the Christmas season. It then soft-opened the Paniqui to Rosales section in time for the Holy Week in April.
PIDC said with the opening of the new section, the total length of the TPLEx that has been made operational in just over a year, will reach 63 km. Once completed, travel time from Tarlac City to La Union, which is about an hour away from Baguio City, will only take 45 minutes at 100 km per hour. Currently, it takes motorists anywhere between 2.5 to 3.5 hours to travel from Tarlac to La Union using the old national road.