P70 billion elevated road to decongest NLEX

MANILA, Philippines —  The Metro Pacific Group plans to put up a P70-billion elevated structure along the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) to decongest vehicle traffic in one of its busiest tollways.

Sources within the Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) informed The STAR that the planned elevated road will be from the Balintawak Toll Plaza to Tambubong Interchange and will be called NLEX Air.

“Our ballpark (estimate for the project)is P70 billion based on the conceptual design. We need to still refine the engineering design,” the source said.

The stretch, covering 17 kilometers, is one of the most congested sections of NLEX, and MPTC believes an elevated tollway would ease traffic buildup in the area.

MPTC – which operates NLEX through NLEX Corp. – is waiting for the Toll Regulatory Board to approve its proposal for NLEX Air. Once the TRB endorses it, a source said it will take up to four years for NLEX Corp. to complete the elevated structure.

“Upon approval of regulators, construction can take three to four years depending on permitting and access issues, and traffic management considerations,” the source added.

Moreover, MPTC views the elevated road as one of the solutions to flooding in NLEX, opening up an alternative passageway for motorists in times of heavy downpour in the expressway.

In a committee hearing at the House of Representatives, MPT Mobility vice president for smart mobility solutions Mark de Leon said the project would complement MPTC’s efforts to solve the flooding issue in NLEX.

De Leon said NLEX Corp. was planning to expand the lanes in the segment between Balintawak and Tambubong. However, the company found it no longer viable to stretch out the roads on that portion, deeming it necessary to propose NLEX Air.

De Leon also assured legislators that NLEX Corp. will mitigate flooding in the expressway with or without an elevated road. In particular, the concessionaire is working with local and national agencies in raising the level of crossings that are prone to flooding.

“The project (NLEX Air) will resolve the issues of congestion along our main lanes, as we saw that we can no longer expand through road widening,” De Leon said.

“One possible solution [to the flooding issue] is having that elevated skyway, so motorists would have another road that they can use,” he added.

For 2024, NLEX Corp. is spending P650 million for the maintenance of tollways under its fold, particularly NLEX and the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX).

Aside from this, NLEX Corp. has allocated close to P9 billion for some of its priority projects to expand its toll network. The operator will invest P6.5 billion for a road widening initiative at the San Fernando section of NLEX to ease traffic buildup.

It will also spend P2.1 billion to build the initial segment of a connector road from NLEX to C5 Road. The NLEX C5 Link seeks to give motorists another way of traversing Mindanao Avenue, one of the busiest thoroughfares in Quezon City.

NLEX Corp. also targets to complete this year the P7.89 billion construction of a third bridge in the Candaba Viaduct, which links the Bulacan and Pampanga portions of the tollway.

NLEX is the busiest expressway operated by MPTC in the Philippines, facilitating an average of 336,930 vehicles a day.

NLEX Corp., a subsidiary of MPTC, also manages SCTEX and NLEX Connector Road.