NLEX to invest P8 billion for 3rd Candaba viaduct

MANILA, Philippines — The Metro Pacific Group will spend nearly P8 billion to build the third Candaba Viaduct for the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) to improve its capacity in facilitating trade and travel around Luzon.

NLEX Corp. will invest P7.89 billion to complete the construction of the third Candaba Viaduct in NLEX by November 2024 or earlier.

The structure will be situated in the middle of the two existing viaducts used by motorists to cross a five kilometer stretch of NLEX between Bulacan and Pampanga.

Once completed, the expansion will increase the road capacity and widen the traffic space of the Candaba Viaduct. The viaduct will be transformed to three lanes with inner and outer shoulders in each direction, from three lanes without shoulder at present.

Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) president and CEO Rogelio Singson said the project would enhance not only the experience, but also the safety of motorists. In the long run, the third Candaba Viaduct is expected to speed up the flow of trade in Central Luzon.

“This project will not only increase the capacity of the five-kilometer Candaba Viaduct, but will ultimately improve safety and convenience of the motorists, as well as aid in the acceleration and growth of trade and commerce in Central Luzon,” Singson said.

NLEX Corp. president and general manager J. Luigi Bautista said the new bridge in the Candaba Viaduct will serve as the main thoroughfare for trucks carrying heavy loads.

Bautista said the project, once finished, will allow NLEX Corp. to increase the speed limit in the Candaba Viaduct to a maximum of 80 kilometers per hour, from the current 60 kph.

According to Bautista, NLEX Corp. has to build a third Candaba Viaduct to take away some of the weight passing through the existing bridges. The viaduct has served as one of the main roads connecting Metro Manila with the north of Luzon for more than 50 years.

In 2020, NLEX Corp. started enforcing anti-overloading efforts to keep the Candaba Viaduct intact. It is implementing a 33-ton gross vehicle weight limit on the southbound lane to prevent any further damage on the structure.

“This new mobility project will offer easy journeys and make travel safer for the public traveling between Metro Manila and Central and North Luzon, as there will be a new structure to augment the existing ones and safely allow the speed limit to increase,” Bautista said.

NLEX Corp., a subsidiary of MPTC – the toll road development division of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. – operates and maintains NLEX, Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway and the NLEX Connector Road.