Will this highway solve Manila’s traffic problem?
President Rodrigo Duterte yesterday led the opening of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) Harbor Link Segment 10, a six-lane highway that aims to cut down motorists’ travel time.
The 5.65-kilometer Segment 10 traverses the cities of Valenzuela, Malabon, and Caloocan, the Philippine Star reported.
In his opening speech, Duterte said the highway is expected to decongest Metro Manila by providing motorists with access to the NLEX without having to pass through EDSA or Balintawak Toll Plaza in Caloocan.
The NLEX is a toll expressway that connects Metro Manila to various provinces in Central Luzon. NLEX Corporation, a private company, operates and maintains the road. It’s a subsidiary of the Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation, which developed Segment 10 with the government.
“It will reduce travel time from Valenzuela to C3 [in Caloocan] from the usual one hour to just five minutes,” Duterte said. “That’s heaven. And it will benefit around 20,000 motorists per day and it will also serve as an alternate route for motorists.”
The travel time from Valenzuela to Caloocan usually takes 46 to 56 minutes.
President Rodrigo R. Duterte: Let us remain steadfast as we work together in forging a more progressive future for all Filipinos. #NLEXHarborLinkSegment10Opening pic.twitter.com/O8QDFGrrI4
— NLEX Corporation (@NLEXexpressways) February 28, 2019
However, Segment 10 is not yet fully complete. According to Businessworld, it will also include a 2.6-kilometer road that leads to Radial Road 10 in Navotas that is expected to open at the end of this year.
Yesterday’s event was held simultaneously with the launch of the two-year construction of the NLEX-SLEX Connector Road Project, a PHP23.3 billion (US$450.019 million) eight-kilometer elevated highway.
According to Duterte, the highway will connect the end of Segment 10 in Caloocan to the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, a public university in Santa Mesa, Manila.
Duterte said that once completed, the connector road will be expected to reduce travel time from Clark International Airport in Mabalacat, Pampanga to the town of Calamba in Laguna from three hours to an hour and 40 minutes.
The connector road, according to the president, will also improve the connectivity between the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay and Clark.
GMA News reported that once completed, the connector road is expected to benefit 35,000 motorists per day.
