Cavitex operator expects 7 pct growth in vehicular traffic

MANILA – The operator of the Cavite Expressway (Cavitex) expects vehicle traffic to grow by at least seven percent this year despite the congestion that is likely to be caused by the construction of the NAIA Expressway Project.

"We expect vehicle traffic to grow 5-7 percent this year. [But] there are challenges this year because there [is] going to be construction sa NAIA," Cavitex Infrastructure Corp (CIC) president Jose Luigi Bautista last week told reporters.

The government last year awarded to the San Miguel Group the public-private partnership (PPP) project that involves building an expressway that would link all the terminals of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

"So, vehicle traffic will decrease because motorists will tend to avoid the traffic. There's going to be traffic that will be experienced at the corner of Cavitex and NAIA. There's going to be an on and off ramp that will be built by the contractor of NAIA Expressway," Bautista said.

He said daily traffic at Cavitex averaged 102,000 vehicles, allowing the company to earn P1.1 billion last year, higher than the P1 billion in 2012.

Bautista said the company is deferring construction of Segment 5, which stretches from Kawit to Noveleta, because "the traffic numbers are not good." 

"Segment 5 is about five kilometers. We're deferring it. It is part of the concession, but it will be affected by the CALA Expressway Project," he said, referring to another PPP project that the government aims to jumpstart this year.

Bautista said CIC is in talks with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to develop the detailed and engineering design for the so-called C5 Link Project, which would connect the Cavitex to C5.

"It is an expressway that will link C5 to Cavitex costing about P6 billion," Bautista said, adding that the Metro Pacific Investments Corp (MPIC) will finance the project. 

He expects the project to be approved by DPWH in the next three months. 

In 2012, MPIC entered into a P6.77-billion financing and cooperation agreement with Cavitex Holdings that may eventually allow Metro Pacific Tollways Corp (MPTC) to take 100 percent of CIC. MPTC is a unit of MPIC.

Under the agreement, Cavitex Holdings will issue a convertible note to MPTC, giving it the option to convert the debt to new, non-voting redeemable preferred shares or, subject to certain approvals and conditions, common shares of CIC.

The Metro Pacific Group also operates the North Luzon Expressway and the Subic Clark Tarlac Expressway.

InterAksyon.com is the online news portal of TV5, which like MPIC is chaired by Manuel V. Pangilinan.