If like us, you are already plotting your post-COVID (whenever that will be) travel plans, well, you’ll be happy to hear that the new Tarlac Pangasinan La Union Expressway (TPLEX) is almost done and it will cut travel time from Manila to La Union and Baguio significantly shorter.

The 88.85 km expressway connecting Metro Manila to Northern Luzon is nearly complete with its last 11 km segment confirmed to be open to motorists as early as July 15. It was originally set to be operational by April but has since been delayed due to the pandemic.

According to the Department of Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar, TPLEx is expected to reduce travel time from Tarlac to Rosario, La Union from three and a half hours to merely an hour.

TPLEX integrates other expressways like North Luzon Expressway and Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway and has nine exits: La Paz in Tarlac City, Victoria, Gerona, Paniqui and Moncada in Tarlac; Rosales, Urdaneta City and Pozorrubio in Pangasinan; and Rosario in La Union.

The four-lane project under the government’s flagship Build, Build, Build program costs P24 billion, with concessions held by Private Infra Dev Corp., a San Miguel-controlled company.

Header photo courtesy of DPWH

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