The development banking institutions of the Philippines are leading an association of companies to finance the P15bn Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Toll Expressway project.

The 88km toll road being funded by the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) as well as Land Bank of the Philippines and managed by San Miguel Corporation will extend from La Paz in Tarlac to Rosario, La Union.

A consortium of ten contractors under the Private Infrastructure Development Corporation (PIDC) will design, construct and operate the toll road through Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT).

The three-phase project will constitute two lanes initially, which will be supplemented by another two lanes once traffic volume reaches 25,000 vehicles a day.

Once completed the expressway is expected to halve the present travel time from Manila to Baguio.

PIDC is expected to complete the first two sections by May 2010 and January 2011 while the entire project is scheduled for completion by 2013.