It was proposed by the then-President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, to mitigate the congestion on the section of the Pan-Philippine Highway in Davao City.

[1] The Davao City Expressway is one of the flagship infrastructure projects proposed under the Build!

It is divided into three phases, with a T-shaped interchange in Ma-a that would connect south to the Davao Coastal Road, east to Panacan, and west to Toril.

Phase 1 of the project will consist of an 8.479 km elevated viaduct structure covering Davao Coastal Road via the Sta.

Phase 2 consists of an 8.510 km elevated viaduct structure from Ma-a Interchange to Panacan.