The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Manila North Tollways Corporation (MNTC) have signed the concession agreement to build an eight-kilometer, all-elevated road that will connect the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) and South Luzon Expressway (SLEX).
Public Works Secretary Mark Villar and MNTC president and chief executive officer Rodrigo Franco sealed the deal for the NLEX-SLEX Connector Road on November 24, after the project was awarded in September.
MNTC and sister company Metro Pacific Tollways Development Corporation, the original proponents of the project, won the contract after no comparative proposal was submitted on the July 25 deadline set by DPWH.
Under the contract, the government through DPWH grants MNTC the right to design, finance, construct, operate, and maintain the NLEX-SLEX Connector Road for 37 years, inclusive of the two-year construction period.
The project, an unsolicited proposal approved by the National Economic and Development Authority Board under the Build-Operate-Transfer Law, covers the design, financing, construction, operation, and maintenance of the eight-kilometer elevated toll expressway over the right-of-way of the Philippine National Railways.
The project will start at the junction of NLEX Segment 10 at C-3 Road/5th Avenue in Caloocan City and seamlessly connect to SLEX via the Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3 Project. It will have at least two interchanges and two tolling plazas.
The project, which has an estimated total cost of P23.2 billion, will be funded by MNTC through loans and internally generated funds.
DPWH said the connector road is expected to ease traffic in Metro Manila, as well as “address the existing congestion problem in the Port of Manila, ultimately improving its competitiveness.”
The road is also being eyed as an alternative route to C5, EDSA, and other major thoroughfares, and seen to reduce transit time between NLEX and SLEX from two hours to just 20 to 30 minutes.
Image courtesy of mapichai at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
