NLEX Corp. said it is keeping its target to complete the P23.3-billion expressway that will link North Luzon Expressway and South Luzon Expressway by December 2021 despite the delays in the turnover of right-of-way by the Department of Public Works and Highways.
“We need a sufficient length of the road to be turned over to us so that we can start construction,” said NLEX president and general manager Luigi Bautista said over the weekend.
“The ideal is 70 percent, but right now only half was delivered,” he added.
Bautista said the company had expected to start construction of the NLEX-SLEX Connector Road by September this year.
Despite the delays, the NLEX executive said, “we would like to keep the original completion target of December 2021.”
The 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 earlier reported a 6-percent increase in net income to P3.03 billion in the first six months of 2019 from P2.85 billion year-on-year.
Consolidated net revenues increased 11 percent in the six-month period to P7.44 billion from P6.68 billion on year.
NLEX attributed the growth in net income to the higher traffic volume in NLEX and SCTEX and incremental toll revenues arising from the toll adjustments that took effect on March 21 for NLEX and June 14 for SCTEX.
Average daily traffic at NLEX reached 268,222 vehicle entries, up 5.3 percent from a year ago, while average daily traffic in SCTEX reached 70,809, up 12.2 percent.
