AFTER investing roughly P700 million to enhance the capacity and decongest the Manila-Cavite Toll Expressway (Cavitex), Metro Pacific Tollways South Corp. (MPT South) plans to further extend the thoroughfare through a P23.2-billion investment to serve more motorists in the Southern Tagalog region.

Cavitex Infrastructure Corp. (CIC) President Luigi L. Bautista said his group plans to execute another portion of its concession agreement, which calls for the extension of the expressway to Rosario, and the linking of the thoroughfare to the future Cavite-Laguna Expressway (Calax).

“There are two segments we want to do: Segment 4, which will connect Cavitex to Calax; and Segment 5, which will extend Kawit to Rosario and has the potential to be extended to Tanza and Naic,” he said in an interview.

Currently, the company is finalizing the business proposal by the end of this month. It will be submitted to the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) thereafter.

“Segment 5 is about P22 billion, which is only the portion that will extend up to Rosario. Segment 4 is about P1.2 billion,” he said.

This development comes as the company nears the completion of a P700-million investment on the enhancement of the Cavitex. It will come in two phases.

The first phase, which is about P400 million, entails the widening of the road from Miaa to Zapote, as well as the Southbound Flyover on the intersection of Pacific Avenue

The second phase, worth about P300 million, consists of the bridge widening at the Wawa, Las Piñas, area.

“These enhancement projects started late last year and were slated to finish by August 2018, but we will complete them within July 2018. On top of that, we are also adding 15 toll booths—three on the northbound direction, two on the southbound direction, and five portable booths on each on the north and south sides of the Paranaque toll plaza. This will effectively double our throughput capacity,” Bautista added.

Roughly 140,000 vehicles use the Cavitex daily.

CIC is a subsidiary of MPT South, one of the three tollways holding companies of Metro Pacific Investments Corp., the largest expressway operator in the Philippines.

Source: https://businessmirror.com.ph/mpt-south-to-extend-cavitex-with-p23-2-billion-investment/