Subic–Clark–Tarlac Expressway
The Subic–Clark–Tarlac Expressway is a four-lane expressway north of Manila, Philippines, in the Central Luzon region. Built by the Bases Conversion and Development Authority, a government owned and controlled corporation under the Office of the President of the Philippines. Started on April 5, 2005, the Subic–Clark–Tarlac Expressway is the country's longest expressway at.
Commercial operations started on April 28, 2008, with the opening of the Subic–Clark Segment and Zone A of the portion of Clark-Tarlac Segment. The opening of Zones B and C of the remaining Clark–Tarlac Segment on July 25, 2008 signaled the full operations of the SCTEx.
The construction of the expressway seeks to provide a more efficient transport corridor between Subic Bay Freeport, the Clark Freeport Zone, and the Central Techno Park in Tarlac, foster development on the municipalities served, and connecting major infrastructures such as the Seaport in Subic and the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark.
The southern terminus of the expressway is in Barangay Tipo, Hermosa, Bataan, located near the Subic Bay Freeport Zone in Zambales. It then passes through the Clark Freeport Zone in two interchanges: Clark North and Clark South. The expressway is linked to the North Luzon Expressway through the Mabalacat Interchange, and its northern terminus is at Tarlac–Pangasinan–La Union Expressway in Barangay Amucao, Tarlac City.
The expressway crosses the 4 rivers in Central Luzon region. The rivers along SCTEx are Dinalupihan River in Bataan, Gumain River in Floridablanca and Pasig–Potrero River in Porac, both in Pampanga, and Sacobia River in Bamban, Tarlac.
Route description
The entirety of SCTEx is built as a four-lane expressway mostly laid out on embankment, with some sections using cuts to traverse hilly areas. All the exits require toll payment, and toll plazas are laid on the termini of the expressway. The expressway forms part of Expressway 1, with the Clark–Tipo segment being a spur of E1. It is unsigned and only appearing in Department of Public Works and Highways official number route maps. Various power lines, most notably the Concepcion–Clark transmission line of National Grid Corporation of the Philippines from Clark North Exit to Concepcion, Tarlac, utilize a significant portion of the expressway for economic reasons.Hermosa to Mabalacat
SCTEX starts at the east end of the Subic-Tipo Expressway in Barangay Tipo in Hermosa, Bataan. The expressway is built alongside the older Jose Abad Santos Avenue until Dinalupihan Exit, where the expressway curves northward. The Jose Abad Santos Avenue passes under SCTEx. The expressway follows a mostly straight route up to Floridablanca, at entering Pampanga, where the expressway curves to the northeast before Floridablanca Exit. It curves toward the northwest and back to the northeast before Porac Exit. Alviera, a mixed-use area being developed in Porac, Pampanga, lies near Porac Exit, that serves as its access to and from the expressway. It crosses the Pasig-Potrero River at approach to Angeles, and curves eastward and then northward near Clark Freeport and Clark International Airport. Clark South Exit, which serves those areas, lies near Mabalacat Interchange, with the exits being one kilometer apart from each other. The segment ends at the Mabalacat Interchange, where it meets the Clark Spur Road that links SCTEX with North Luzon Expressway.Mabalacat to Tarlac City
The expressway becomes part of Radial Road 8 at Mabalacat Interchange, where its main destination changes to Tarlac City and Baguio. The roadway runs at the boundary of Clark Freeport and Mabalacat city proper, where the abandoned Philippine National Railways main line to Dagupan and San Fernando, La Union also lies. MacArthur Highway parallels the expressway up to Tarlac City.Leaving Clark Freeport, Clark North Exit comes before the expressway, where it curves and then crosses MacArthur Highway at Barangay Dolores, where a half-partial cloverleaf interchange, serving only northbound traffic, connects the two. Approaching Tarlac, the expressway crosses over the Sacobia River through a bridge mentioned before. The first service areas on the expressway, one serving northbound traffic, and the other serving southbound traffic, apart by one kilometer, comes before Concepcion Exit. The expressway passes near the poblacion of Concepcion, then over agricultural land of Tarlac City. Hacienda Luisita Exit, that serves Hacienda Luisita as well as connecting MacArthur Highway and serving barangays along its connecting road, comes before the northern end of the expressway at Tarlac City Exit. A new toll plaza built on the main route serves Tarlac City Exit, whose toll gates are removed with its opening. The exit will serve as a future interchange with the under-construction Central Luzon Link Expressway. Past Tarlac City Exit, Subic–Clark–Tarlac Expressway becomes Tarlac–Pangasinan–La Union Expressway northward.
History
Construction
The Subic–Clark–Tarlac Expressway or SCTEx Project was initiated under the administration of former President Joseph Estrada with an original project cost of ₱15.73 billion. Construction was started in 2005 under the government of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. It is the longest tollway in the Philippines that connects Subic, Clark, and Tarlac. It was completed with a project cost of ₱34.981 Billion.The original project for the expressway is divided into segments, the Subic-Clark segment, and the Clark–Tarlac segment. The contractors for the project are a joint venture of Kajima, Obayashi, JFE Engineering, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, for the Subic-Clark segment, and a joint venture of Hazama, Taisei, and Nippon Steel, for the Clark-Tarlac segment. Consultation were provided by a joint venture of Oriental Consultant, Katahira & Engineering International, and Nippon Koei Co. Ltd.
The total cost of the project equals ₱34.907 billion. 78% of the cost were funded by way of a loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency -with an interest rate of 0.95% per annum; 22% represents the BCDA counterpart.
The total cost for the construction of the expressway is ₱34.957 billion. It was sourced through a loan from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation amounting to ¥41.93 billion or ₱23.06 billion-with an interest rate of 0.95% per annum.
Soft opening
On March 18, 2008 at exactly 1 pm, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo opened the Subic – Clark segment of the Subic–Clark–Tarlac Expressway for the Holy Week Dry Run. This helped the motorists celebrating Holy Week in Zambales and Bataan. The Dry Run was free and for Class 1 Vehicles Only. The Holy Week Dry Run was from March 18: 1 PM to 5:30 PM and March 19 to 24: 5:30 AM to 5:30 PM because the expressway had no lights yet.Subic–Clark segment opening
On April 28, 2008 at exactly 12 noon, BCDA Announced the Subic–Clark Segment of the SCTEx was now open to all vehicles. BCDA said that travel time from Manila to Subic via North Luzon Expressway would now only take 1 Hour and 40 Minutes while the travel time from Clark to Subic would only take 40 minutes. Exit to Dolores continues to MacArthur Highway.Clark–Tarlac segment opening
On July 25, 2008, the BCDA announced the opening of the Clark–Tarlac segment of the expressway. Travel time from Clark to Tarlac was reduced to only 25 minutes and to travel the entire length of the SCTEx would only take about 1 hour. At the same time, the travel time from Manila to Tarlac via NLEx and the SCTEx would only take 1 hour and 25 minutes.Operations and maintenance
The expressway is part of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority's Subic–Clark–Tarlac Expressway Project or SCTEP, which aims to connect the ecozones of Subic and Clark. The joint-venture of First Philippine Infrastructure Development Corporation, Tollways Management Corporation and Egis Projects, the same concessionaires of the North Luzon Expressway, would handle all the operations and maintenance of the expressway. The First Philippine Infrastructure Development Corporation is a subsidiary of First Philippine Holdings, a holding company under the Lopez Group of Companies with core investments in power and tollways, and strategic initiatives in property and manufacturing. The FPIDC was eventually sold to Metro Pacific Investments Corporation in 2008.The SCTEx business and operating agreement between the BCDA and the Manila North Tollways Corporation, and its holdings companies Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation and Metro Pacific Investments Corporation, was signed July 25, 2011. Under the business and operating agreement, MNTC will operate and manage SCTEx for 33 years, while relieving BCDA of the heavy financial burden of paying the ₱34-billion debt to the Japan International Cooperation Agency. By virtue of the Agreement, the SCTEx can be considered as having been built at no cost to Government.
Other related developments
₱25.737 billion of the total project cost represents direct costs such as expenses incurred for the construction of the SCTEX. The indirect costs of ₱7.146 billion include land acquisition, consultancy services, project management expenses and taxes and duties. Financing costs of ₱2.074 billion include the Department of Finance guarantee fee and JBIC loan interest during the construction period. Toll Fees are approved by the Toll Regulatory BoardTechnical specifications
- Name: Subic–Clark–Tarlac Expressway
- Concession holder: NLEX Corporation
- Operator: Tollways Management Corporation
- Length:
- Concession starting date: BCDA: Q3 2008, MNTC: 2016
- Concession ending date: BCDA: 2016, MNTC: October 30, 2043
- Highway exits: 12
- Lanes: 4 Lanes
- Toll plazas: 3
- Rest and Service Areas: 4
- Minimum Height Clearance on Underpasses:
Toll
In March 2016, the integration of the North Luzon Expressway and the SCTEx was completed, in time for the Holy Week exodus. Among the integration plans which costed 650 million pesos are the reduction of toll collection stops, construction of additional toll plazas and the conversion of the electronic toll collection of the two expressways into a single system.
Also, with the government's thrust towards toll road interoperability, Autosweep of the SMC Corporation which operates SLEx, Skyway, STAR Tollway, NAIAX, and TPLEx has been accepted as a mode of payment in SCTEx since March 2018.
The toll rates, by kilometer travelled and vehicle class are as follows:
| Class | Toll |
| Class 1 | /km |
| Class 2 | /km |
| Class 3 | /km |