3rd bridge’s bidding closes this week

The bidding for the P27.9 billion Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway is expected to be finalized this week.

Cebu Cordova Link Expressway Corporation (CCLEC) President and General Manager Allan Alfon said that once the negotiation for the lowest bidder is finalized, it will be awarded to the winning bidder the soonest possible time.

Alfon said only two bidders are left in the running.

He added that the geotechnical work will hopefully starts this month which signals the start of the contract. The project is expected to be completed in three years.

"Full blast construction will be on or before December," Alfon said.

Lawyer Rose Versoza, CCLEC manager for legal services, said that they are still processing their Special Land Use Permit (SLUP) from the City Environment and Natural Resources Office and Environment Compliance Certificate (ECC) from the Environmental Management Bureau-7 of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

"We have submitted already all the requirements and we are just waiting for their approval/issuance of SLUP and ECC," Versoza said.

The Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX) is an 8.5-kilometer toll bridge that will link Cebu City to the municipality of Cordova.

The CCLEX will have two lanes in each direction and will feature the main navigation span bridge, along with viaduct approach bridges, a causeway, roadway and toll facilities.

The span of the bridge allows for shipping traffic and the link is expected to serve at least 40,000 vehicles daily.

President Rodrigo Duterte led the groundbreaking ceremony for the project in Cordova, Cebu last March 2.

CCLEX, which will be implemented through a joint-venture agreement with the City of Cebu and Municipality of Cordova, will give Cordova direct access to Cebu City and is envisioned to decongest the traffic in the two existing bridges between Mactan and Cebu.

But more than providing travel efficiency, the CCLEX is expected to spark economic growth and productivity not only in the Province of Cebu but the entire Visayas Region.