PANGASINAN LINK EXPRESSWAY PROJECT BEGINS

LAOAC, Pangasinan: Gov. Ramon Guico 3rd and San Miguel Corp. President and Chief Executive Officer Ramon S. Ang led the groundbreaking and unveiling of the marker for the P34-billion Pangasinan Link Expressway (PLEx) on Thursday.

“Today, we gather here not only to mark the official groundbreaking of PLEx but also to unveil the marker that symbolizes the start of this monumental project between San Miguel Corp. and the Province of Pangasinan,” said Ang.

The 42.76-kilometer expressway is set to connect eastern and western of Pangasinan, improving travel and driving economic development.

“This project is part of our commitment to improving the lives of our kababayan by creating jobs and creating more economic opportunities at no cost to the government,” said Ang.

The first phase of the project consists of three main sections. These are the 7-km stretch from the towns of Binalonan to Manaoag, the 11.3-km stretch from Manaoag to Calasiao, and the 22.1-km stretch from Calasiao to the capital town of Lingayen.

A 2.4-km spur road to Calasiao will also be built.

Ang said that the second phase of the project will be from Lingayen to Alaminos City, where the Hundred Islands National Park is located.

“PLEx will also connect to TPLEx, providing direct access to our new Manila International Airport in Bulacan, which is envisioned to be the country’s largest and most modern international gateway,” Ang said.

TPLEx also connects to the Subic Clark Tarlac Expressway and North Luzon Expressway.

Ang thanked Guico, Vice Gov. Mark Ronald Lambino and other provincial government officials “for bringing this vision to life.”

“Your dedication reminds us that when we join hands for a common purpose, there’s nothing we can’t accomplish,” said Ang.

Guico, on the other hand, thanked Ang for advancing the project, saying all of the provincial government’s big ticket projects are now anchored on the PLEx.

“This is because the PLEx will serve as the backbone of our province in terms of ease of travel, in terms of connectivity,” Guico said.

Guico said that in the past, his hometown Binalonan was just an agricultural town.

“But when you built the Tarlac Pangasinan La Union Expressway (TPLEx) and we were given the opportunity to have a toll plaza, the progress of our town came so fast,” Guico said.

He said that when the toll plaza was built, Binalonan developed an economic zone and a university town. The town is no longer dependent on its national tax allotment share because it is already generating more local income than the subsidy for the national government.

“That is why we experienced progress because of an infrastructure like the TPLEx,” Guico said.

“In the same model, if we are going to construct PLEx, it will open so many doors for the other towns and cities of Pangasinan.

Definitely, there will be growth in business, in investments. There will be more jobs created. There will be more ease in travel within the province and outside the province,” he added.

With PLEx, travel time from Binalonan to Lingayen will be reduced from one hour to 20 minutes.