NLEX Corp. will start the rehabilitation of Magsaysay Boulevard next month as part of the construction of the NLEX Connector Sta. Mesa Section, a top executive said Thursday.
The redevelopment will involve the rehabilitation of the eastbound and westbound service roads, improvement of Philippine National Railways railroad crossing, relocation of electric posts and decommissioning of the Magsaysay Flyover, according to the company.
It will implement the improvement project until the first quarter of 2023 with the decommissioning of the Magsaysay Flyover seen to be completed by December 2022 or before the Christmas holidays.
“The redevelopment project and the NLEX Connector both aim to ease traffic in the metro and improve the flow of vehicles in its surrounding areas,” said NLEX Corp. president and General Manager J. Luigi Bautista.
Bautista said being an alternative and truck ban-free route, the elevated expressway would also reduce traffic on roads where trucks traversed before.
Works will be done in phases, with temporary lane closures commencing at the road going to Legarda, then at the road going to Cubao, Quezon City.
A minimum of three lanes per direction will remain open during daytime, while two lanes per direction will be available at nighttime. NLEX said it would post more information on the road closures in various communication platforms
Once completed, the traffic flow at Magsaysay Boulevard is expected to greatly improve as it will have new configuration of five lanes per direction and will be wider with 3.5 meters per lane, at par with the standards of the Department of Public Works and Highways.
Magsaysay Boulevard at present has six lanes per direction, with narrow lanes measuring 2.5 meters. With the decommissioning of the Magsaysay Flyover, the connector mainline will be at the second level rather than at the fourth level, thus ensuring safer and faster travel of all classes of vehicles particularly, Class 3 vehicles coming to and from the port areas.
The eight-kilometer NLEX Connector is divided into two sections: the España and Sta Mesa sections. The five-kilometer España section runs from Caloocan Interchange on C3 Road, España Blvd. The three-kilometer Sta Mesa section runs from España Blvd. to R. Magsaysay Blvd., all the way to Sta. Mesa, Manila.