Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. said it expects to start by the third quarter the construction of an expressway that will link North Luzon Expressway and South Luzon Expressway.
“We are hoping by third quarter we will start construction,” MPTC president and chief executive Rodrigo Franco said.
The P23.3-billion NLEx-SLEx Connector Road is an eight-kilometer elevated four-lane expressway extending NLEx southward from the end of Segment 10 on C3 Road Caloocan City to PUP Sta. Mesa, Manila and connecting to Skyway Stage 3 by mostly traversing the PNR rail track.
The project includes two interchanges at C3 Road/5th Avenue in Caloocan and España in Manila.
Once completed by 2021, the project will reduce travel time from SLEx to NLEx from two hours to just 20 minutes. Some 35,000 motorists are expected to use the project.
It will also reduce the travel time from Clark in Pampaga to Calamba, Laguna from about three hours to one hour and 40 minutes.
NLEx Corp., a unit of MPTC, opened the NLEx Harbor Link Segment 10 in February this year, improving the accessibility and connectivity between the key areas of Metro Manila and the northern provinces of Luzon via NLEx.
Traversing the cities of Valenzuela, Malabon and Caloocan, the 5.65-km, six-lane NLEx Harbor Link Segment 10 is seen to divert 30,000 vehicles daily away from the busy streets of Metro Manila. With the new road, travel time between C3 and NLEx will only take 5 minutes.
It will also facilitate the efficient delivery of goods as cargo trucks will have alternative access from Port Area in Manila to the provinces in Central and Northern Luzon.
The elevated expressway will enable travelers from Manila to Central and North Luzon to head straight to NLEx, bypassing Edsa and the Balintawak Toll Plaza.
The next phase of the project is the 2.6-km section from C3 Road to R10 in Navotas City.
