NLEX Corp. is on track to finish the construction of the entire 8-kilometer North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) connector road project by the second quarter of 2023.
The first section from Caloocan Interchange on C3 Road to España Interchange in Manila will be completed in October and operational by December this year, said J. Luigi Bautista, NLEX Corp. president and general manager.
Construction of the second section from España Boulevard to Sta. Mesa is now 10 percent complete and is hoped to be finished by the second quarter of next year, he added.
Bautista told reporters recently that the company is on track to complete the project by next year as the government already delivered over 90 percent and over 80 percent of the right-of-way for the first and second sections, respectively.
The P15.7-billion NLEX-South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) connector road is an elevated four-lane toll expressway structure with a length of 8 km passing through and above the right-of-way of the Philippine National Railways, starting from NLEX Segment 10 at C3 Road, Caloocan City and seamlessly connecting to SLEX through the Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3 project in Manila.
DM Consunji Inc. is the contractor for the first section, while China Road and Bridge Corp. handles the construction of the second section of the connector road.
The connector road is targeting to serve around 35,000 motorists per day. It will significantly reduce travel time from NLEX to South Luzon by at least 60 percent and will enhance the journey between international gateways, such as Ninoy Aquino International Airport and Clark International Airport, and stimulate development between Metro Manila and its surrounding provinces.
In the first half of the year, NLEX Corp., which operates NLEX and Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX), said its net income rose by 32 percent to P3.5 billion from P2.7 billion in the same period last year due to higher toll revenues and better cost efficiency.
Toll revenues rose by 25 percent to P8.4 billion in the first semester from P6.7 billion in the same period last year, because of higher traffic volume and the impact of the toll rate adjustments implemented in May and June of this year.
As of June, average daily traffic at NLEX reached 278,795 vehicle entries, higher than in 2021 by 13 percent, while average traffic in SCTEX reached 71,181 daily vehicle entries or 31 percent above last year’s figures covering the same six-month period.
By Myla Iglesias -September 5, 2022
