Submissions of qualification documents and offers by bidders to the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX)-South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) connector road project have been reset to a later date by the transport department, saying it is awaiting certain approvals from other agencies.
In a notice published on April 14, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said it will now issue tender documents on April 29, moving it from the previous April 12. Instructions relating to comparative proponents and other relevant qualification and tender documents will be available until June 12 from the original May 24 deadline.
The filing of comparative proposals has been moved to July 25 from July 5.
Public Works and Highways Secretary Rogelio Singson said the rescheduling stemmed from the agency having to wait for approval of the final concession agreement from the Department of Finance and Office of the Solicitor General.
DPWH early this month started inviting local and international companies to hand in their comparative proposals under a Swiss challenge to finance, design, construct, operate, and maintain the NLEX-SLEX connector road.
Swiss challenge is a form of procurement that requires a public authority that has received an unsolicited bid for a public project or service to publish the bid and invite third parties to match or exceed it.
Earlier, DPWH received and approved an unsolicited proposal from Metro Pacific Tollways Development Corporation and its subsidiaries to extend NLEX southward, according to Eugenio Pipo, Jr., chairman for civil works of PPP projects of the department’s special bids and awards committee.
Specifically, the proposal seeks to utilize existing right-of-way of the Philippine National Railways from C3 Road, Caloocan, to PUP Sta. Mesa, Manila, in order to connect NLEX to SLEX via the South Metro Manila Skyway System (MMSS) Project.
A part of the DPWH master plan for high-standard highway systems, the connector is envisioned as an eight-kilometer, four-lane elevated tolled expressway that starts from NLEX Segment 10 of Circumferential Road (C-3) Road/5th Avenue, Caloocan City, and links up with the SLEX through stage 3 of the MMSS. It consists of at least two interchanges and two tolling plazas.
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.” It will also provide an alternative route to C5, EDSA, and other major thoroughfares, while reducing transit time between NLEX and SLEX.
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