The civil works to extend the Cebu Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEx) to Cebu City will start by the middle of 2024.

Allan Alfon, president and general manager of Cebu Cordova Link Expressway Corp. (CCLEC), told DAILY TRIBUNE: " We are hoping to start civil works mid-2024… It's part of our existing concession agreement already."

The extension called the Guadalupe ramp in Cebu City has parcellary and as-built surveys for the project alignment completed. This will service motorists from N. Bacalso and V. Rama Avenues, particularly those from Barangays Guadalupe and Labangon and other nearby areas.

The ramp is expected to cater to 12,000 vehicles that need to traverse the CCLEx.

Alfon said the project cost would be around P2 to P3 billion and would take around 18 months to build. It will be a 2-kilometer infrastructure.

The 8.9-kilometer CCLEx modern toll expressway has catered to 3.6 million vehicles since it opened to the public in April 2022.

Alfon said that CCLEx catered to an average of 7,000 vehicles. The number increased to an average of 12,500 daily a year after. On weekends, vehicles using the bridge reached almost 17,000 vehicles daily.

The P33-billion CCLEx or the third bridge was built to ease traffic in Metro Cebu and has become an alternative road to Mactan Cebu International Airport(MCIA).

Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) president and CEO Rogelio Singson recently told reporters about the need to link the 8.9-kilometer toll bridge to city roads, including Bacalso Avenue, to improve daily vehicle volume.

He said that currently only 40 percent of the projected 60,000 daily motorists were being recorded.

Singson confirmed that there are negotiations with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to expand CCLEx on the Cordova side. If approved, CCLEx will be connected to MCIA, providing tourists with an alternative route to Cebu City.