The Department of Public Works and Highways and NLEX Corp. on Friday opened to the public the Malabon Exit of the North Harbor Link Project that will ease daily traffic gridlock in Metro Manila.
“About 30,000 motorists per day will stand to benefit from this new road once the entire Harbor Link C3-R10 Section is fully completed, helping reduce travel time for the traffic-weary public, providing more turnaround trips for the trucking sector, and growing businesses for merchants and local communities,” Public Works Secretary Mark Villar said.
“In the meantime, we are opening this new Malabon Exit to provide immediate relief from the daily bumper-to-bumper traffic in the CAMANAVA [Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas and Valenuzuela] area especially along C3 Road. When we open the entire C3-R10 Section next month, travel time between NLEX and the CAMANAVA area will be reduced from 60 to 10 minutes, or a savings of 50 minutes,” he added.
For its part, NLEX is committed to support the government’s aim to alleviate traffic congestion in Metro Manila through high impact infrastructure projects such as the NLEX Harbor Link that improves commuter mobility between airports, seaports, and growth corridors in both the north and south.
“We are cognizant of the government’s desire to find quick solutions to the traffic problem in Metro Manila. That is why aside from expediting the completion of the entire project, we have also rationalized our construction sequence and resource planning to accommodate the early opening of this Malabon Exit,” J. Luigi Bautista, NLEX president and general manager said.
Bautista explained the tollway company decided to open the Malabon Exit a month before the whole NLEX Harbor Link C3-R10 Section is completed in response to the clamor of motorists for immediate relief from heavy traffic along the CAMANAVA area.
This is while construction works are still ongoing for the rest of the Harbor Link alignment.
“We can already see a light at the end of the tunnel as we are targeting the full opening of NLEX Harbor Link C3-R10 section next month,” Villar added.
The Malabon Exit is part of the 2.6-kilometer elevated NLEX Harbor Link C3-R10 Section between the new Caloocan Interchange in C3 Road, Caloocan City to Radial Road 10, Navotas City, connecting the previously opened 5.65-kilometer NLEX Harbor Link Segment 10 that traverses Karuhatan, Valenzuela City, Governor Pascual Avenue in Malabon City, and 5th Avenue/C3 Road, Caloocan City.
Aside from significantly easing up the daily traffic congestion and serving as an alternate route to Dagat-Dagatan Avenue, the Malabon Exit also aims to open up development potentials in the area.
“Beyond providing safe and hassle free daily travel, this new exit intends to further unlock the tourism and business potentials of Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas and neighboring cities,” Bautista noted, adding that “NLEX is aiming to create an enabling business environment and bring in more opportunities to CAMANAVA.”
This new Malabon Exit also ignited optimism for the future of the City of Malabon. Mayor Antolin Oreta mentioned, “We are happy with the opening of the Malabon Exit which will definitely decongest traffic and improve the accessibility of our city from those coming from the North and Central Luzon areas.”
The NLEX Harbor Link is one of the high impact projects of the Duterte administration’s “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program.