16,000 vehicles use Cebu-Cordova expressway daily

VITAL LINK The Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway, also called Cebu’s third bridge traversing the Mactan Channel, is an 8.9-kilometer landmark, shown here on Friday, that brings thousands of commuters between mainland Cebu to Mactan Island’s Lapu-Lapu City, which hosts the Mactan Cebu International Airport, export processing zones and posh resorts, via Cordova town, which is also home to a number of hotels and resorts. —TONETTE OREJAS

CEBU CITY—Traffic at the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEx) has increased to a current average of 16,000 vehicles daily or more than double the number since the 8.9-kilometer toll road was opened in April 2022, an official of the expressway’s management firm said here on Friday.

The vehicles include motorcycles with 110 to 399 cc displacements, according to Herbert Laboy, CCLEX Corp. (CCLEC) vice president.

Bicycles and pedestrians get to use a smaller lane at no cost anytime from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m., Laboy added.

Users of the four-lane road linking mainland Cebu in Cebu City to Mactan Island via the town of Cordova pay fees ranging from P60, P90, P180 and P270 for motorcycles and three classes of vehicles.

The rise in vehicle traffic is likely to increase the one-percent revenue share of the local governments of Cebu City and Cordova, which amounted to a total of P3.5 million as of April 2023, Laboy said.

Ease of transportation

The two local governments are partners in the 45-year joint venture implemented by CCLEC, a subsidiary of the Metro Pacific Tollway Corp. (MPTC).

MPTC also operates the 84-km North Luzon Expressway from Valenzuela City to Pampanga, the 94-km Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway from Bataan, Pampanga to Tarlac and the 14-km Cavite Expressway.

The CCLEx, MPTC’s first toll facility outside Luzon, is the longest cable-stayed bridge in the country and is now considered as a local landmark.

The bridge is equipped with 82 closed-circuit televisions, a road weather information system, emergency response communications system and bridge management system, CCLEC said in a briefing.

Allan Alfon, president and general manager of CCLEC, had said that traffic hit 20,000 vehicles on weekends.

“With our increasing vehicular traffic, we are committed to continuously deliver to our motorists quality service to ensure their safe, seamless, and convenient travel experience,” Alfon said.

He added: “As a vital infrastructure in Cebu and in the region that provides ease of transportation, we at CCLEC take pride in being a partner in development and progress.” INQ