TPLEx opens access to Carmen
THE Paniqui-Carmen stretch of the 88.85-kilometer Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEx) opened last April 16 in time for the influx of motorists travelling for the Holy Week break.
“This portion brings to 50 kilometers the total length of the TPLEx that is operational following the opening of the 23-kilometer Phase 1 from Tarlac City to Paniqui last year,” said project proponent Private Infra Dev Corporation, Inc. (PIDC), a subsidiary of San Miguel Corporation (SMC).
The new toll road should cut the one-hour travel time from Tarlac City to Carmen to only 30 minutes.
The remaining 25.83-kilometer portion from Urdaneta, Pangasinan to Rosario, La Union will be completed by 2015.
From end-to-end, TPLEx will traverse 17 towns and two cities in the provinces of Tarlac, Pangasinan, La Union and Nueva Ecija.
Once completed, it will connect the Northern and Central provinces of Luzon to Metro Manila via the North Luzon and Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressways.
Originally designed as a two-lane road, SMC decided to upgrade the infrastructure to four lanes in anticipation of future traffic growth.
Once completed, it will cut travel time from Tarlac to La Union to only an hour from the present 2 1/2 hours .
HOLY WEEK SECURITY
Meanwhile, the Pangasinan Provincial Police Office (PPPO) put in place reinforced security during the observance of Holy Week.
P/Sr Supt Sterling Raymund Blanco directed all the town and city police chiefs to undertake steps to ensure the security of motorists and travellers from April 13 to April 20.
Police assistance desks were set up in churches, transport terminals, beaches, resorts, malls, and other recreational places as well as other crime-prone areas.
Motorist assistance centers, in coordination with local government units and other public and private groups, along major highways were also formed.—PIA3/CLJD and Johanne R. Macob
Opening of TPLEx segment will
boost province’s economy- Espino
LINGAYEN–Governor Amado Espino Jr. welcomed the opening of the Paniqui-Carmen segment of the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEx) as a boon to the economic growth of the province, particularly on tourism and trade.
In an interview just after the opening of the 27-kilometer segment from Paniqui in Tarlac to Carmen, Rosales in Pangasinan last April 16, the governor said the province has been made more accessible by the new tollroad.
“Syempre ang maganda doon dahil mabubuksan na ang Pangasinan…makakapasok na sila left and right, left papunta sa west, sa right papuntang east,” Espino said.
“More would also visit our tourist spots as our beaches, particularly this summer”, he added.
Espino also said the opening of the new expressway provides another route for the faster transport of products, including agricultural goods, from the province.–Johanne R. Macob
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