Maayong balita Cebu! Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX), a new and iconic landmark, is rising between the horizons of Cebu and Mactan to further decongest traffic.
Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway is an 8.5-kilometer bridge costing 30 billion pesos that is set to connect the island of Mactan in the municipality of Cordova across the channel to mainland Cebu.
The CCLEX project will have two lanes in each direction and will feature the main navigation span twin pylon stay cable bridge, viaduct approach bridges in Cebu City and Cordova side, CSCR on and off ramps, causeway and toll plaza. The span and height of the bridge at 51 meters will allow large vessels to pass underneath.
The link expressway is expected to serve at least 50,000 vehicles daily and will decongest traffic in Metro Cebu, and on the Marcelo Fernan Bridge (completed in 1999) and the Sergio Osmeña Bridge (completed in 1972), both in Mandaue City.
Once completed, CCLEX is expected to dominate Cebu and Mactan’s skyline with its modern architectural design and its towers hovering over the much older bridges connecting the southern towns of Cebu with Mactan Island where the multi-awarded and renowned Mactan-Cebu International Airport and Mactan Export Processing Zone are located.
According to project manager Robert Uthwatt, the bridge is designed to withstand up to a magnitude 7.75 earthquake on the Richter scale, and can also resist 250-kilometer per hour winds, or a category 5 typhoon.
Aside from traffic decongestion, project proponents believe the bridge would improve economic investment and generate jobs in Cordova town, improve productivity on the island and throughout the Visayas.
The expressway link project group’s latest report released in December 2019, states the expressway is already at over 47% completion.
Expected to be completed in 2021, coinciding with the year when Cebu takes center stage in the worldwide celebration of first circumnavigation of the world and the arrival of Christianity in the Philippines, the CCLEX’s iconic features include a lighted cross on all four sides on top of the two 145-meter tall main pylons.
The CCLEX is a public-private partnership (PPP) project managed by Cebu Cordova Link Expressway Corporation (CCLEC), a subsidiary of Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC) headed by Manny Pangilinan, that will build, operate, and maintain CCLEX under a joint venture agreement with the local governments of Cebu City and Cordova.
More bridge and road projects in the Visayas include the PGN Island Bridges project that allow easier access and will open a network of more convenient transportation linkage between the three islands of Panay (comprising Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Iloilo provinces), Guimaras, and Negros (Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental).
The Kalibo Bridge, touted the longest bridge in Western Visayas opened in January in Aklan and cut travel time to Boracay Island from the current 90 minutes to 45 minutes.
SEND CHEERS in the comments below to the people of Cebu and Mactan Island for this new structural landmark rising above the waters between the two islands!
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