The Bases Conversion and Development Authority said yesterday that the movement of goods and people within the Clark Freeport Zone has been greatly enhanced with the recent opening of the Clark North Interchange of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway.

According to the state-run corporation, the Clark North Interchange provides Clark free port locators and motorists with a faster and easier access to the 94-kilometer tollway connecting three key economic zones in Central Luzon—Subic in Olongapo City, Clark in Angeles City and the Central Techno Park in Tarlac City.

Prior to the opening of the Clark North Interchange last Dec. 23, motorists from the SCTEX headed for Clark were encountering difficulty negotiating the perennial heavy traffic in Dau and Angeles City before they could reach Clark. Likewise motorists inside Clark bound for Subic or Tarlac didn’t have direct access to the SCTEX.

“That problem is now a thing of the past,” said SCTEX program manager for operational support and services Robert Gervacio.

The Clark North Interchange leads to the Clark Freeport Zone through the 3.8-kilometer Panday Pira road.

Meanwhile, the adjacent Clark South Interchange leading to the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport and the Yokohama industrial complex through the M.A. Roxas Avenue in Angeles City is on track for completion by end of next month.

On the other hand, two more additional interchanges, one each in Porac and Floridablanca towns in Pampanga, are also expected to be operational by June this year.

Business leaders in Pampanga have also cited the benefits from the new interchanges, saying they are signs of a “brighter and bigger” economic prospects for Central Luzon.