By Manny Balbin/PNA
CITY OF MALOLOS, Bulacan — Motorists from Central and Northern Luzon going to Manila are set to experience shorter travel time with the opening of a new North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) road before the end of this month.
The NLEX Harbor Link Segment 10 is slated to open to the public on Feb. 26 and motorists will be able to enjoy free toll fees on the first two weeks of its operation.
Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Mark Villar, together with officials of the Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC), made this announcement on Wednesday as they conducted a final inspection on the 5.65-kilometer harbor link from Valenzuela City to the new Caloocan Interchange in C3 Road, Caloocan City.
“The first two weeks of operation will be free toll for all types of vehicles,” Villar said. “This will be a traffic game changer since this will reduce travel time from C3 to NLEX from more than an hour to just 10 minutes,” he said.
The soon-to-open new NLEX segment is expected to alleviate traffic congestion in Metro Manila as it will serve as an alternate corridor for motorists travelling from the provinces not only in Central Luzon but also from all the other regions in Northern Philippines to Quezon City and Manila.
Some 30,000 vehicles daily are expected to use the new elevated NLEX road connecting to Smart Connect Clover Leaf in Karuhatan, Valenzuela City and 10,000 of them are mostly heavy container trucks.
NLEX Corporation president and general manager Luigi Bautista cited that with the direct and quick access between NLEX and Manila Port, the said infrastructure project is seen to provide direct access for commercial vehicles, particularly heavy trucks.
The construction of the NLEX Harbor Link Segment 10 started in 2014.
The next phase of the project is the 2.6-km section from C3 Road in Caloocan City to R10 in Navotas City that will be completed by the end of 2019.
