TPLEX completion reduces travel time from Manila to La Union from 6 to 3.5 hours

The 11-kilometer final segment of the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX) will be opened to motorists on July 15, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) confirmed on Monday.

In a Facebook post, DPWH Secretary Mark Villar said the completion and opening of the Pozorrubio, Pangasinan to Rosario, La Union Section of TPLEX are expected to drastically reduce travel time from Tarlac to Rosario by an hour from the current 3.5 hours.

“With the completion of the last portion of originally designed TPLEX towards Rosario Rotunda (formerly Pugo–Rosario Road/Manila North Road Junction), traveling to the Ilocos Region and Baguio City in the Cordilleras will now be easy,” Villar said.

From the Rosario, La Union Rotunda, motorists bound to Baguio have three route options --either the Marcos Highway if they go further to Pugo, or Kennon Road, or the Asin Nangalisan Road, he added.

The 88.85-kilometer, PHP24-billion four-lane toll road project implemented by DPWH involves the design, financing, construction, operation, and maintenance by the private sector.

The DPWH added the entire length of the tollway have 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.

San Miguel Corporation’s Private Infrastructure Development Corporation holds the concession for TPLEX, which is integrated with Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) and the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) connecting the Central and Northern Luzon provinces to Manila and beyond.