Central Luzon Link Expressway | |
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![]() A map of expressways in Luzon, with CLLEX in orange | |
Route information | |
Length | 66.4 km (41.3 mi)
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Existed | 2021–present |
Component highways | ![]() |
Major junctions | |
West end | ![]() |
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East end | ![]() |
Location | |
Country | Philippines |
Provinces | |
Major cities | |
Towns | |
Highway system | |
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The Central Luzon Link Expressway (CLLEX), also known as the Central Luzon Link Freeway, [3] is a partially operational expressway [4] in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. It will connect the Subic–Clark–Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) and the Tarlac–Pangasinan–La Union Expressway (TPLEX) to the currently under-construction North Luzon East Expressway in Cabanatuan [1] towards San Jose, Nueva Ecija. [2] It is currently toll-free and exclusively open to Class 1 vehicles [lower-alpha 1] but it will be tolled and opened to other classes of vehicles in the future. [2]
The untolled section from Tarlac City to La Paz is designated as National Route 308 (N308) of the Philippine highway network. [5]
CLLEX runs in an east-west direction from Tarlac City to San Jose, Nueva Ecija. The entire route is built as a four-lane expressway mostly laid out on embankment.
From the west, CLLEX begins at a trumpet interchange with the Subic–Clark–Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) and Tarlac–Pangasinan–La Union Expressway (TPLEX) in Tarlac City. The expressway intersects Santa Rosa–Tarlac Road at a diamond interchange where the expressway passes above grade. The expressway then passes agricultural land, before turning east as it enters La Paz. It crosses La Paz–Victoria Road where an interchange serving entering westbound vehicles and exiting eastbound vehicles, connects the two. The expressway continues east as it crosses through a viaduct over the Rio Chico River, and crosses the Tarlac–Nueva Ecija boundary before crossing the Talavera River.
The expressway then continues east as it enters Zaragoza, Nueva Ecija. It turns northeast as it meets Zaragoza interchange, a trumpet interchange connecting with Zaragoza–Aliaga Road. It makes a reverse curve turning southeast before crossing Guimba–Aliaga Road as it enters Aliaga, where a temporary exit is built as the expressway's current terminus.
In 2010, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) formulated the creation of an expressway network under the High Standard Highway Network Development Master Plan, focusing on a growth area within the 200 km (120 mi) radium sphere of Metro Manila. The DPWH, under JICA's assistance, completed the feasibility study for the proposed Central Luzon Expressway (CLEX) on the same year.
The proposed project was to divided into two (2) phases: Phase 1 with a 30.7 km (19.1 mi) network beginning from the connection of SCTEX and TPLEX in Balingcanaway, Tarlac City and ends at the Pan-Philippine Highway (Daang Maharlika) in Caalibangbangan, Cabanatuan; and Phase 2 with 35.7 km (22.2 mi) network beginning from the Phase 1 terminus in Cabanatuan and ends at San Jose town proper. [6]
The project was renamed to Central Luzon Link Expressway (CLLEX) in 2011 after the preparatory survey and final report plan for Phase 1 was concluded. [7]
JICA would fund the construction of the 66.4-kilometer (41.3 mi) CLLEX, while operation and maintenance would be under the public-private partnership (PPP) scheme. The construction of the CLLEX Phase 1 project was funded thru the Official Development Assistance (Japan) grant of ¥22,796,000,000 ( ₱11.87 billion, March 2012 exchange rate) at a signing agreement ceremony by the Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo and Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Toshinao Urabe. [8]
In President Benigno Aquino III's State of the Nation address in 2014, the CLLEX was mentioned as one of many of the administration's priority projects involving massive infrastructure spending in Central Luzon. [9]
In 2015, Manila North Tollways Corporation (later NLEX Corporation) was interested in a public auction for CLLEX Phase 2 through the PPP scheme. [10] [11] However, the bidding for the project never went through.
The groundbreaking ceremony was held on September 22, 2017, along with the beginning of construction. [12] The expressway was originally planned to open in December 2020, but was repeatedly delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The first 18 kilometers (11 mi) of the expressway from Tarlac City to Aliaga was inaugurated by President Rodrigo Duterte on July 15, 2021. The expressway opened to vehicles on the same day. [13]
In July 2022, DPWH announced that CLLEX will be completed by July 2024. The current Phase 1 terminus in Aliaga will see an extension of seven kilometers up to San Juan Interchange and four kilometers to Umangan–Julo Road, before ending at Felipe Vergara Highway and the Pan–Philippine Highway. [14]
In August 2022, SMEC was appointed to serve as a consultant and a transaction advisor. This also provided services for the development of the expressway's second phase and the operations and maintenance under PPP. [15]
In April 2024, Hermogenes Ebdane, the Regional Development Council’s Sectoral Committee on Infrastructure Development and the Regional Peace and Order Council in Central Luzon, announced that CLLEx right-of-way had been resolved, adding that affected landowners who established barricades along the route had dismantled them. [16]
This entire route is located in Central Luzon. Exits will be numbered by kilometer posts, with Rizal Park in Manila designated as kilometer zero.
Province | City/Municipality | km | mi | Exit | Name | Destinations | Notes |
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Tarlac | Tarlac City | 122A 122B | Tarlac City | ![]() ![]() | Hybrid trumpet and diamond interchange; western terminus [17] | ||
La Paz | Change from N308 to unnumbered. | ||||||
Tarlac toll plaza (Cash payments) | |||||||
Chico River Bridge | |||||||
Nueva Ecija | Zaragoza | Zaragoza | Future trumpet interchange | ||||
Aliaga | Aliaga | Guimba–Aliaga Road | Former half-diamond interchange, former eastern terminus (2021-2024) | ||||
102 | Aliaga | Guimba–Aliaga Road | Trumpet interchange | ||||
San Juan | Carmen–Cabanatuan Road | Half trumpet interchange; current eastern terminus | |||||
Cabanatuan | Cabanatuan | ![]() | Trumpet interchange; future eastern end of Phase 1 | ||||
Llanera | Llanera | Trumpet interchange | |||||
San Jose | Talavera River Bridge | ||||||
San Jose toll plaza (Cash payments) | |||||||
San Jose City | ![]() | Future eastern terminus; end of Phase 2. | |||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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Cabanatuan, officially the City of Cabanatuan, is a 1st class component city in the province of Nueva Ecija, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 327,325 people, making it the most populous city in Nueva Ecija and the fifth-most populous in Central Luzon.
La Paz, officially the Municipality of La Paz, is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Tarlac, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 68,952 people.
Tarlac City, officially the City of Tarlac, is a 1st class highly urbanized city and capital of the province of Tarlac, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 385,398 people.
Muñoz, officially the Science City of Muñoz, is a 4th class component city in the province of Nueva Ecija, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 84,308 people.
Zaragoza, officially the Municipality of Zaragoza, is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Nueva Ecija, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 53,090 people.
The North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), signed as E1 of the Philippine expressway network, partially as N160 of the Philippine highway network, and partially as R-8 of the Metro Manila arterial road network, is a controlled-access highway that connects Metro Manila to the provinces of the Central Luzon region in the Philippines. The expressway, which includes the main segment and its various spurs, has a total length of 101.8 kilometers (63.3 mi) and travels from its northern terminus at Santa Ines Interchange to its southern terminus in Balintawak Interchange, which is adjacent to its connection to Skyway, an elevated toll road that connects the NLEX to its counterpart in the south, the South Luzon Expressway. The segment of the expressway between Santa Rita Exit in Guiguinto and the Balintawak Interchange in Quezon City is part of Asian Highway 26 of the Asian highway network. Despite that the name stating the word "North Luzon", the expressway only ends at Santa Ines Exit at Mabalacat, Pampanga which is located in Central Luzon.
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