MNTC ready to launch NLEX-Harbor Link Project

MANILA, Philippines - The Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC), a part of the Metro Pacific Group under the leadership of Manuel V. Pangilinan, said yesterday it is ready to launch its NLEX-Harbor Link Project, which “will be MNTC’s first expressway development under the administration of President Benigno S. Aquino III.”

The project, MNTC president Rodrigo E. Franco said, will be undertaken as a public-private partnership to help fill the vital need for infrastructure investments in the country. The government will procure the right-of-way while MNTC will design, build, finance and operate the expressway as part of the company’s Manila North Expressway concession.

To minimize total project cost, MNTC has proposed to build a substantial length of the NLEX-Harbor Link as an elevated road over the existing rail right-of-way of the Philippine National Railways (PNR).

With the start of right-of-way acquisition by the government, Franco said MNTC is “primed to further expand” the NLEX towards the west of Metro Manila. Construction is anticipated to begin by the fourth quarter of 2011, subject to the delivery of the right-of-way by the government. The eight-km NLEX-Harbor Link project involves the construction of an extension of the NLEX main to the Manila North Road (MacArthur Highway) in Valenzuela City, and eventually to the C-3 Road which leads to the Port areas in Manila. Construction of the largely elevated road will cost approximately P8 billion which will be fully funded by MNTC.

The expansion is designed to help decongest traffic in Metro Manila as it provides alternative west access to NLEX mainline, bypassing EDSA and the Balintawak interchange. A direct route will be established to the CAMANAVA and Northern Manila areas from North and Central Luzon. Cargo trucks from the Manila harbors will have an immediate access to the NLEX via the C-3 interchange.

The project also sets the stage for the connector road — the 13-km elevate expressway that will connect NLEX from C-3 to Skyway in Buendia Avenue, Makati City.

“After conducting further studies, we are pleased to confirm that MNTC is now formally launching the NLEX-Harbor Link Project,” Franco stated in a letter dated Oct. 10, 2010 to the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB).

MNTC has taken a number of preparatory steps, notably coordination with pertinent government agencies, in connection with the project that forms part of Phase 2 of the Manila North Expressway concession.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is expected to issue the environment compliance certificate (ECC) for the project next month. Meanwhile, the detailed engineering design (DED) is targeted to be completed by MNTC in December.

The NLEX-Harbor Link Project comes on the heels of the completion early this year of Segment 8.1 which links the NLEX main in Valenzuela City to Mindanao Avenue in Quezon City.

MNTC is a subsidiary of the Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. and is the developer and concessionaire of the North Luzon Expressway.