DMCI bags P8-b deal for NLEX-SLEX connector road

NLEX Corp. said Tuesday it awarded to D.M. Consunji Inc. the first section of an elevated expressway connecting the north and south of Metro Manila. 

“The actual work on the ground, for the first four or five [kilometers] would be towards the end of November,” NLEX Corp. president Luigi Bautista said.

Bautista said the contract for the first section of the  project connecting NLEX from the Caloocan Interchange to España Boulevard would cost P8 billion. The project is expected to be completed in 20 months. 

“Upon full completion in 2021, the NLEX Connector will significantly cut travel time from NLEX to SLEX by at least 60 percent. Instead of the usual two hours, travel time will now be reduced to about 20 minutes,”  Public Works Secretary Mark Villar said.

“ It will also provide improved accessibility for cargo trucks bound for the Manila ports [North and South Harbor] and the international airports such as NAIA and Clark,” Villar said.

Bautista said the NLEX-SLEX Connector would also decongest major thoroughfares such EDSA and C5.  

The second section of the NLEX-SLEX Connector Road is expected to start construction by March next year. 

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.

A crucial infrastructure needed to resolve traffic congestion in Metro Manila, the NLEX Connector is also expected to stimulate economic development in Manila, Caloocan, Malabon and Navotas and their surrounding areas.

Around 35,000 motorists, especially those operating cargo trucks, are expected to benefit from the project.