Expanded Subic highway opens for holidays

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—Motorists coming in and out of this free port during the holiday season can now use the newly expanded Subic Freeport Expressway (SFEx), Public Works Secretary Mark Villar announced here on Monday.

The new road, built beside the existing SFEx carriageway, is 92-percent complete. It was opened to motorists on Monday until Jan. 15, 2021.

“While there are still works to be done in some areas, we are temporarily opening the new road to ease the travel of motorists this holiday season, especially [for] delivering essential goods,” Villar said in a statement.

The 8.2-kilometer SFEx connects this free port to the 94-km Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx), which in turn links with the Tarlac-Pang­asinan-La Union Expressway.

Road safety

According to Villar, the expansion includes two more expressway lanes, two new spans at the Jadjad and Argonaut bridges, and a new tunnel near the existing one to improve traffic flow and road safety.

Full-blast work on the P1.6-billion project started in September 2019 but was halted in March during the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).

Construction resumed in mid-May after the lifting of ECQ but work at a portion of the bridge was again delayed in October after a steel girder collapsed, killing two workers and seriously injuring three others on site. —JOANNA ROSE AGLIBOT