23 November 2012, Malaya Business Insight

by Myla Iglesias

 

The two groups of investors planning to connect the country’s two expressways have agreed on the design and the sharing of expenses on a common road.  One proponent, Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. said it is finished with engineering details and eager to submit its quote to the government.

The common road runs from the Buendia junction in Makati, pass through Plaza Dilao  near the old Paco train station  to Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Sta. Mesa.

Metro and Citra San Miguel Corp., the other proponent, agreed to extend the common road from three to five kilometers.

Ramoncito Fernandez, Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., president upgrading the common road would cost at least P3 billion.

In related development Fernandez said he expects the Toll Regulatory Board to approve their request for an 11 percent increase in toll for the North Luzon Expressway.

He said MPTC still has the lowest toll rate of P2 per kilometer in Asia.

Earlier the  National Economic Development Authority- Investment Coordinating Committee (NEDA-ICC) made it a condition that before the connector road projects are approved, the two must agree on the common road.

Fernandez said that the two groups will finalize the sharing on the construction cost and revenues .

San Miguel Corp-backed Citra Metro Manila Tollways Corp. (CMMTC) will link the two expressways along a path nearer  EDSA traversing the Sta. Mesa –Araneta (St. Rivera) road to connect to the Balintawak entrance of the North Expressway.

The Metro Pacific road will traverse a longer route from Buendia to the Port Area portion of Manila to connect to the Mindanao Ave link in North Expressway.

The Metro project will run 14 kilometers with six lanes and will cost P25 billion.

The Metro project likewise has three phases of development- the Mindanao Ave., to Valenzuela link to be finished by September next year;  the Valenzuela  to Harbor area  then the Harbor area to Buendia.

A 13.2-kilometer elevated road connecting the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) to the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX will cut down travel time across the metropolis from two hours to 15 to 20-minutes, regardless of traffic at ground level.