Tuesday, March 18, 2008

‘Dry run’ for Subic to Clark highway

March 18, 2008

An expressway that would shorten travel time between Subic and Clark to about 30 minutes and took three years to build after it was hounded by controversy will be open to motorists—for free—in a weeklong trial run starting Tuesday. Built at a cost of P60.5 billion, the four-lane Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) is the country’s longest toll road. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo led in the “soft opening” of the project at yesterday, March 18 at 10 a.m. The dry run lasts until March 24 and involves only the Subic-to-Clark portion spanning 50 km, officials of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) said. Today, March 19 until March 24, the tollway opens from 5:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Vehicles that would be allowed to test the expressway are light vehicles, chartered buses and motorcycles with engine displacements of 400 cc and higher. The weeklong dry run is intended to ease the traffic this Holy Week, BCDA president Narciso Abaya said. Knette Fernando, deputy administrator for corporate communications of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), said the tollway would cut travel time between the Subic and Clark free ports to just 30 minutes—from the roughly one hour and 30 minutes using the old roundabout route. Toll fees on the new expressway would be waived during the Holy Week.





After the Holy Week dry run, the tollway will be temporarily closed for final preparations before it officially opens next month. “From either south or north Luzon, motorists going to Subic can take the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), exit at the interchange going to Clark, then motor smoothly to Subic for a holiday of fun and adventure,” Fernando said. SBMA said that the SCTEx, a major project of the Arroyo administration, covers a total distance of 93.77 km, and has at least 34 bridges. The project is divided into two sections—the 50.5-km Subic-Clark span and the 43.27-km Clark-Tarlac section.

Abaya said the full opening might be set in the third or fourth week of April this year.

Source: http://services.inquirer.net/mobile/08/03/18/html_output/xmlhtml/20080318-125373

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