NLEX Allocates P19B Capex To Help Improve Metro Manila Traffic
This year, the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) Corporation is setting aside P19 billion in capital expenditure to help solve Metro Manila’s daily traffic bottlenecks.
However, the tollways firm clarified that the capex figure will still be subject to review and adjustment, depending on the result of its ongoing tariff adjustment discussion with the government, according to NLEX Corporation President and CEO Rodrigo Franco.
The bulk of the company’s 2018 capital expenditure will be used to construct the urban portions of the NLEX, such as the Harbor Link Segment 10, including the R10 Section in Dagat-Dagatan, Navotas City and the Public Private Partnership (PPP) project of the Department of Public Works (DPWH), the NLEX-South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) Connector Road project.
Expected to be opened this year, Harbor Link Segment 10 is a 5.7-km elevated expressway traversing the NLEX from Smart Connect Interchange and crossover Mac Arthur Highway in Valenzuela City with down ramps along C3/5th Avenue Interchange in Caloocan City.
Once the Harbor Link is completed, travel between the Ports of Manila and the NLEX will take only 10 minutes and will provide direct expressway access for commercial vehicles, especially heavy trucks.
Around 40,000 vehicles traversing the Ports of Manila and the NLEX daily will benefit from the Harbor Link.
The tollways firm will also start construction of the NLEX-SLEX Connector Road Project, an 8-kilometer all-elevated PPP project of the DPWH above the existing PNR tracks from the C3/5th Avenue Interchange in Caloocan City to the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP), Sta. Mesa, Manila.
Upon its completion in 2021, the elevated expressway will provide motorists another alternative to the daily heavy traffic on EDSA. It is also expected to reduce travel time between NLEX and SLEX from 2 hours to only 20 minutes.
In support of the continuing infrastructure initiatives of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), the tollways firm will also undertake capacity expansion of the 8-km Subic Freeport Expressway.
NLEX Corporation will construct 16 new lane kilometers thus boosting Subic port as a prime logistics hub.
Through its subsidiary, NLEX Ventures Corporation (NVC), the tollways firm has also started construction of a new expressway service facility and rest area along Km. 17 Southbound of the NLEX.
The new 15,500-square meter facility, called NLEX Drive & Dine, will follow a mini-mall concept that will feature a wide variety of retail, food and commercial services for NLEX customers.
To support the rapidly growing areas north of Manila, NLEX Corporation is also constructing two major traffic decongestion projects in Mabalacat City, Pampanga such as the new Sta. Ines Interchange and the new Mabiga Interchange in 2018.
The conversion of the narrow SCTEX Mabiga exit into a full diamond interchange with new entry and exit toll plazas will introduce another alternative access to the SCTEX via the MacArthur Highway.
“These investments support the government’s initiatives to ease the daily traffic woes of our commuters, drive commerce, and ensure safe and convenient travel in our expressways and maintain high-quality service” Franco concluded.
Source: https://business.mb.com.ph/2018/01/12/nlex-allocates-p19-billion-capex-for-2018/
