NLEX Corporation said that the capacity expansion of the 8.2-kilometer Subic Freeport Expressway (SFEX) is now 50% complete and expected to be finished by the end of 2020.
According to NLEX, the expansion involves the construction of two additional expressway lanes, two new spans at the Jadjad and Argonaut bridges as well as a new tunnel adjacent to the existing one in order to improve traffic flow and road safety. New expressway-standard LED lights will also be installed to ensure the safety of motorists especially those who are driving at night.
“By increasing the road capacity of SFEX, which traverses the provinces of Bataan and Zambales, transport of goods in and out of the Subic Freeport will be faster and easier. This would also mean that the expressway can accommodate more motorists at a given time,” NLEX Corporation president and general manager J. Luigi L. Bautista said.
Apart from transforming the road into a four-lane expressway, the project also involves raising the elevation of the Maritan Highway-Rizal Highway-Tipo Road junction and enhancing the drainage system in order to improve flood management in the area.
Traversing the provinces of Zambales and Bataan, SFEX runs from Rizal Highway in Subic going towards the former Naval Exchange and Argonaut Highway and ends in Hermosa, Bataan where there is a toll plaza leading to the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX).
Full blast works on SFEX Capacity Expansion started last September 2019 and were halted following the declaration of enhanced community quarantine in the area. Construction resumed in mid-May after the lifting of ECQ.