NLEX connector road project on track

The construction of the 123.302billion North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) connector road project is on schedule within the first semester of 2019, the NLEX Corporation announced the other day.

This was based on the contractual agreement the tollway company signed with the Department of Public Works and Highways.

According to the agreement, the construction for the first section of the project, from C3 Road in Caloocan City up to España in Manila, should start on May, 2019.

However, both the NLEX Corporation and the DPWH earlier agreed to push for an aggressive timeline to move forward the construction schedule to January, 2019 instead.

This to ensure that the NLEX Connector, a crucial infrastructure to solve traffic congestion in Metro Manila, will be completed sooner.

The aggressive timeline was also in consideration with the joint right-of-way (ROW) program of NLEX Corporation and DPWH.

The acquisition of the ROW was also on track as the DPWH is fully committed to provide the ROW requirements to jumpstart the project ahead of its original contractual schedule, the NLEX Corporation reported. The tollway company and DPWH targets to complete the connector road by December, 2020, ahead of the original schedule of May, 2021.

DPWH Secretary Mark Villar even created a ROW task force last year to hasten ROW acquisition and delivery.

The NLEX Connector project is an 8-kilometer, all elevated four-lane expressway extending the NLEX southwards from the end of the NLEX Harbor Link Segment 10 in C3 Road in Caloocan City to PUP in Sta. Mesa, Manila.

The project will seamlessly link key growth areas like Metro Manila and North and Central Luzon, and the ClarkSubic corridor.

Some 35,000 motorists, especially cargo truck drivers, will benefit from the project as they don’t need to use congested public roads anymore.

The connector road traverses the Philippine National Railways’ alignment.

The NLEX Connector is one of the first Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects awarded by the Duterte administration in 2016.