‘Dry run’ for Subic to Clark highway

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 will lead in the “soft opening” of the project at 10 a.m. Tuesday.

The entire expressway spans 94 kilometers.

The dry run will last until March 24 and will involve only the Subic-to-Clark portion spanning 50 km, officials of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) said.

Tuesday’s dry run from Clark to Tipo in Subic will last from 1 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., after which the tollway will be closed because of the lack of night lighting, officials said.

From Wednesday until March 24, the tollway would be open 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.

Right-of-way problems, lack of heavy equipment, money claims for rushed work, and kickbacks allegedly involving some BCDA officials in exchange for contracts were among the issues that beset the project.

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.

‘Fun and adventure’

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.

8 interchanges

The Subic-Clark part is designed to give motorists easier access to the provinces of Pampanga, Bataan and Zambales.

The expressway also has eight interchanges, including Floridablanca, Porac in Dolores, Clark, Dinalupihan, Angeles, Mabalacat, Tarlac and Subic, according to Ed Pamintuan, chairman of the Subic-Clark Alliance for Development Council, which oversees development projects in the area.

In a media briefing on Friday, BCDA vice president Aileen Zosa said that after the Holy Week, the Subic-Clark segment would be closed again “to allow for further finishing which would ensure that the tollway conforms to specifications.”

BCDA officials have said the faster movement of goods and people along the Subic-Clark corridor should spur more investments and greater economic development in Central Luzon.

Abaya clarified that the BCDA had not yet issued certificates of acceptance to the project’s two contractors.

Kajima Corp., Obayashi Corp., JFE Engineering Corp. and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. Joint Venture built the Subic-Clark section.

Hazama-Taisei-Nippon Steel Joint Venture constructed the 43.27-km Clark-Tarlac portion.

Toll rates

“There are still rectification works that are being done,” Abaya told the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net).

Also, the BCDA and toll operators for the first six months—the joint venture of the First Philippine Holdings Corp., Egis Road Operation and Tollways Management Corp.—will still need to publish the rates to comply with a requirement of the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB).

Earlier, BCDA executive vice president Isaac Puno III said the rates would most likely start at P2.49 per km. The TRB has yet to announce the approved rates.

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

Guide to motorists

Here is how motorists could reach Subic via the SCTEx: From the NLEx, take the spur interchange between Barangays Dau and Sta. Inez in Mabalacat. From there, go to the SCTEx Clark logistics toll plaza, head to the bridge and follow the loop of the ramp toward Subic.

Those bound for Bataan may exit at the Dinalupihan interchange through the Roman Highway.

Metro Manila-bound motorists from Subic and Bataan may enter the SCTEx through the Tipo toll plaza or Dinalupihan toll plaza. Both lead to the Clark logistics toll plaza that heads to the spur interchange toward NLEx.

Longer than Marcos road

The Gapan-San Fernando-Olongapo Highway (now the Jose Abad Santos Avenue), which is the regular route to Pampanga, Bataan and Zambales, is still open to traffic.

The National Economic and Development Authority approved the SCTEx project in 1999. The highway’s actual construction began in March 2005.

As originally envisioned, the 94-km tollway connects the Subic and Clark free ports and makes these into a single international logistics hub.

At the end of the highway is the Luisita Industrial Park in Tarlac City where several Japanese companies do business, mostly in electronics.

Abaya said the SCTEx is longer than the North Diversion Road—now the NLEx—built during the time of the late President Ferdinand Marcos. The NLEx spans 84 km.

By Tonette Orejas, Riza T. Olchondra, Ronnel Domingo
Philippine Daily Inquirer, Central Luzon Desk