The contract for the proposed connector road linking the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) and the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) has been awarded to Metro Pacific Tollways Development Corporation (MPTDC), according to Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC).
Contract signing is expected in November.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, MPIC said its subsidiaries MPTDC and Manila North Tollways Corporation (MNTC) received on September 19 the Notice of Award from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
MPTDC and MNTC, the original proponents of the project, won the contract after no comparative proposal was submitted on the July 25 deadline set by DPWH.
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 an 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.
The project will not require infusion of fresh equity from MPIC, the company noted.
The initiative, a part of the DPWH master plan for high-standard highway systems, will consist 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.”
The road is also being eyed as an alternative route to C5, EDSA, and other major thoroughfares, even as it is expected to reduce transit time between NLEX and SLEX.
Image courtesy of mapichai at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
