The Public Works Department said it expects the National Economic and Development Authority to approve two toll road projects in Luzon, including an expressway traversing Tagaytay City this year.
Public Works Secretary Mark Villar said he was hoping that Neda would approve within the year the P23.95-billion extension of Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway to San Juan, La Union which was proposed by San Miguel Holdings Corp.
San Miguel secured an original proponent status from the DPWH for the project in December last year.
Villar said the agency was expecting the start of the construction of the project this year.
San Miguel’s unsolicited project involves a 59.4-kilometer four-lane toll road 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 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.
Villar also said the agency was expecting Neda to approve the P22.4-billion Cavite-Tagaytay-Batangas Expressway project in the third quarter. “We expect the Neda to approve that soon,” Villar said.
CTBex is a 50.4-kilometer expressway that will connect Cavite and Batangas, with a spur road to Tagaytay City and ultimately terminating in Nasugbu and another spur road to Tuy, Batangas.
CTBEX would decongest about 23,000 vehicles daily from existing thoroughfares.
The project will start at Silang East Interchange of the Cavite-Laguna Expressway. The alignment will traverse the towns of Silang, Amadeo, Mendez, Alfonso and Tagaytay in Cavite and Nasugbu in Batangas.
