Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. said the construction of the P30-billion Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEx) is now 59.68 percent as of January this year. 

“Despite the constructional challenges because of the health and safety protocols being observed due to Covid-19, our team is doing their best to complete this most anticipated infrastructure project in Cebu and the rest of the Visayas region as soon as possible,” Allan G. Alfon, president and general manager of Cebu Cordova Link Expressway Corp. (CCLEC) said. 

 As of January 2021, the overall Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract of CCLEX is at 68.21 percent while construction progress alone is at 59.68 percent.

“From the beginning, we have always known the socio-economic impact of CCLEX to the entire Visayan region,” said MPTC Chairman Manuel “Manny” V. Pangilinan.

The CCLEX, being built at a project cost of P30 billion, spans the Mactan Channel, linking mainland Cebu from Cebu City with the town across the famed channel, notably Cordova in Mactan island. 

The project’s concrete pylons on the side of Cebu City and Cordova have been completed and reached their full structural height of 145 meters over Mactan Channel. With continuing dismantling of the self-climbing formworks, the crosses on top of the pylons are now visible.

The installation of eight crosses on top of the CCLEX pylons will be completed and illuminated by hundreds of LED strip lights before the historic commemoration. 

CCLEX will be part of the quincentennial commemorative celebrations in April 2021, with its eight 40-meter high crosses on all four sides of each of the twin towers. These will be lit at night, dramatically proclaiming once again Christianity’s influence in the Asia’s first Christian nation.

CCLEX is being implemented by CCLEC under a joint venture agreement with the local governments of Cebu City and Municipality of Cordova. 

Set to be a new landmark in the country, CCLEX will have two lanes in each direction that will provide a safe, quick and scenic passage to an estimated 50,000 vehicles daily, easing the traffic in the existing Marcelo Fernan Bridge and the Mandaue-Mactan Bridge.

CCLEX has a design speed of 80 kilometers per hour (kph) and a navigational clearance or height of 51 meters to allow large vessels to pass underneath the bridge.

CCLEC is a subsidiary company of MPTC, the toll road arm of Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC), which is a publicly listed infrastructure holding company, and a member of the MVP Group of Companies.