MANILA - NLEX Corp said Monday it has completed 50 percent of the planned capacity expansion of the 8.2-kilometer Subic Freeport Expressway (SFEX).

The P1.6 billion tollway expansion, which aims to ease travel to and from the Subic Freeport zone, is significantly progressing despite the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and is eyed to be completed by the end of the year, NLEX Corp said.

“By increasing the road capacity of SFEX, which traverses the provinces of Bataan and Zambales, transport of goods in and out of the Subic Freeport will be faster and easier. This would also mean that the expressway can accommodate more motorists at a given time,” said NLEX Corporation president and general manager J. Luigi Bautista.

Work on the SFEX expansion project started last September 2019, but was halted following the declaration of enhanced community quarantine in the area. Construction resumed in mid-May after the lifting of ECQ.