Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway

The Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX) crosses the Mactan Channel between Cebu City’s South Road Properties reclamation area and Cordova on Mactan Island — at roughly 8.9 kilometers, it’s the longest bridge in the Philippines and the country’s first major span of this length built as a cable-stayed bridge. It opened in April 2022 as a third crossing alongside the older Mandaue-Mactan bridges, giving South Cebu and the South Road corridor a direct route to Mactan-Cebu International Airport that skips Mandaue’s traffic.

The main span rises on two tall concrete pylons — among the tallest structures on either the Mactan or South Road Properties skyline — engineered as a cable-stayed design meant to handle both Visayas typhoon winds and the region’s seismic activity, since Cebu sits in a zone that has recorded damaging earthquakes in the past.

The bridge runs as a toll road under a private concessionaire rather than the national government, and it has reshaped commuting patterns for towns south of Cebu City. Commuters and freight from Talisay, Naga, and Minglanilla can now reach the airport and Mactan’s economic zones without threading through Mandaue’s older, more congested bridges. [FACT NEEDED: confirm current toll rates by vehicle class before quoting a figure — these are adjusted periodically and were not verified for this entry.] Property values and commercial interest along the South Road Properties approach have risen since the crossing opened, part of a broader push to develop reclaimed land on Cebu City’s southern waterfront.

The reclamation and construction drew some environmental scrutiny before the bridge opened, particularly around dredging near Cebu City’s coastline and its effect on marine habitat in the strait — a tradeoff regularly raised around large infrastructure projects built on reclaimed land in the Philippines, and one that isn’t fully resolved just because the bridge is now operating.

For a visitor without a car, the bridge itself isn’t really accessible on foot, but it’s visible — and photographable — from Cordova Boardwalk and other shoreline points on the Mactan side, which is where most non-driving visitors end up taking it in rather than crossing it directly.

Taxis and ride-hailing apps will cross the bridge on request, and it’s a common route now for anyone connecting between a South Cebu hotel and the airport rather than routing through Mandaue — worth requesting specifically if a driver defaults to the older route out of habit. Traffic on the expressway itself moves faster than on the older bridges precisely because it’s tolled, which filters out some of the jeepney and slow-moving vehicle traffic that clogs the free crossings during rush hour.

• The main span’s cable-stayed towers are the structural signature — worth a look both from the expressway itself and from vantage points on either shore.
• It’s a toll road, not a pedestrian crossing; the appeal for a visitor is the drive itself and the view from either landing point.
• Time it for late afternoon if you want the tower lights against the sunset — the bridge is lit at night, and the golden-hour crossing gives the best light on the cables.

Explore More in Lapu-Lapu City

• Naga Boardwalk
• Talisay Landing Memorial
• Crocolandia