NLEX seeks TRB go signal for C3-Anda Circle expressway project
NLEX Corp. is awaiting approval from the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) for the implementation of the first section of the of the proposed P92-billion NLEX-CAVITEX Port Expressway Link project.
“On Section 1, the Circumferential Road 3 (C3) to Anda Circle section, we are trying to address the questions that the TRB has in relation to the legal structure on how it will be implemented,” NLEX Corp. President and General Manager J. Luigi L. Bautista told BusinessWorld in a recent interview.
“Hopefully we can get approval from the TRB, and then we can already start implementing it,” he added.
The 15-kilometer (km) NLEX-Cavitex Port Expressway Link project is originally a joint unsolicited proposal with the Manila-Cavite Expressway (CAVITEX) submitted to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in 2019 to extend the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX).
The project has three sections: the 5.7-km C3 Road to Anda Circle, the 4.8-km Connection from CAVITEX to Buendia Avenue, and the 4.6-km Buendia Avenue to Anda Circle.
“Naisip namin na hinog na ‘yung first section (We thought that the first section was already ripe for implementation), so we went to the TRB to tell them that we are ready to implement this project, but it’s still part of the entire unsolicited proposal,” Mr. Bautista said.
The NLEX-CAVITEX Port Expressway Link project, once completed, is expected to “stimulate development in Manila, Caloocan, Malabon and Navotas, as well as its surrounding areas,” the DPWH said on its website.
It is also seen to decongest Metro Manila traffic, give trucks a 24/7 alternative route and resolve truck-ban problems, provide better access to Manila ports (North Harbor) and airports (Ninoy Aquino International Airport and Clark airport), and complete the connection of NLEX with SLEX.
The project is expected to reduce travel time from SLEX to NLEX to just 20 minutes from two hours, reduce travel time from Clark to Calamba to one hour and 40 minutes from approximately three hours, and benefit at least 35,000 motorists or vehicles per day.
NLEX Corp. is part of Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., the tollway unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC).
MPIC is one of three key Philippine units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being Philex Mining Corp. and PLDT, Inc. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Arjay L. Balinbin
