Lopez firm’s French partner vows efficient tollway mgm’t system

LYON, France – The French partner of the Lopez-owned Manila North Tollways Corp. assured yesterday that they would operate a state-of-the-art tollway management system for an 84-kilometer stretch of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) that is presently being rehabilitated and modernized.

Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC) and its foreign partners won the contract to rehabilitate an 84-kilometer stretch of NLEX from Balintawak to Sta. Ines, Pampanga and to install and operate an efficient toll system upon its completion by end 2004.

MNTC vice chairman and CEO Jose P. de Jesus said earlier the project is now 30 percent complete. The company expects to finish the project by the fourth quarter of next year.

"So far everything is on track," said Jean Pohu, senior vice president and member of the executive committee of Transroute International, a member of the Groupe Egis of France, which holds a 13-percent stake in the NLEX project. Another partner, Leighton International of Australia, has an 18-percent interest in the consortium and is undertaking the construction of the road system. The Lopez Group has 67-percent controlling stake in MNTC with the Philippine National Construction Corp. maintaining a two-percent share.

In a briefing for a small group of visiting Filipino journalists here in Lyon, about 400 kilometers south of Paris, Groupe Egis officials assured Filipino motorists of hassle-free travel along the modernized North Luzon Expressway by the beginning of 2005.

The newsmen were given a tour of the 10-kilometer Eperly toll road system here operated by Groupe Egis. They were informed that the same French technology and expertise that will be adopted in the NLEX will reduce travel time to nearly half and increase the predictability of traffic conditions within the expressway at any time of the day.

According to the French executives, Groupe Egis will apply their expertise and technology, used in over 5,000 kilometers of motorways in France alone, in the operation and maintenance of the NLEX tollway system. Egis is also involved in tollway systems in Australia; Malaysia, Greece, South Korea and other countries.

The Eperly Toll system features a traffic control center and a toll control center. These centers were installed to ensure not only the efficient operation of the expressway but also to ensure the safety of the motorists.