MANILA - The Department of Public Works and Highways on Tuesday said the agency and the builder of the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAX) are looking to open the first 10-kilometer segment of the new toll road in October.

This segment of the CALAX starts at the Mamplasan Barrier and passes through Laguna Technopark interchange, Laguna Boulevard Interchange all the way to the Santa Rosa-Tagaytay Interchange, DPWH said.

The segment is expected to serve around 10,000 vehicles per day and decongest Governor’s Drive, Aguinaldo Highway, and the Sta. Rosa-Tagaytay Road.

CALAX is a 45-kilometer tollway that will connect the Manila-Cavite Expressway and the South Luzon Expressway.

The four-lane expressway will pass through congested residential and industrial areas in Kawit, Imus, Gen. Trias, Dasmariñas and Silang in Cavite, and through Sta. Rosa and Biñan in Laguna.

Once completed it is expected to cut travel time between Cavite and Laguna to 45 minutes from around 2 hours at present.

"Around 50,000 cars will experience this convenience,” said Public Works Secretary Mark Villar.

Villar and officials of Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation subsidiary MP CALA Holdings inspected the progress of construction of the CALAX Tuesday morning.

He admitted the CALAX project had run into right-of-way (ROW) issues which caused delays.

"Despite some challenges in the ROW acquisition which kept us from delivering earlier as we hoped, we are addressing these challenges in order to keep to the timeline and deliver the full 45 km by early 2022," Villar said.

The tollway was originally expected to be completed by 2020.

MP Cala Holdings president Bobby Bontia, meanwhile, said the new tollway will have several high-tech features.

"Among the features of CALAX will be the installation of Automatic License Plate Recognition System enabling barrier-less entry. IP Based Speed Detection Cameras will also be strategically installed together with HD CCTV coverage for the entire stretch of the expressway which will further ensure safety of the motorists," Bontia said.

CALAX will have interchanges in 8 locations, namely: Kawit, Daang Hari, Governor’s Drive, Aguinaldo Highway, Silang, Sta. Rosa-Tagaytay, Laguna Blvd., Technopark, and a Toll Barrier before SLEX.