NLEx Corp. awards P8-B Phase 1 connector road to DMCI

NLEx Corp. on Tuesday awarded to D.M. Consunji Inc. (DMCI) the first phase of an elevated toll road connecting the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) to South Luzon Expressway.

The P8-billion contract to build the first five kilometers of the NLEx Connector project was handed to DMCI during a site inspection at Grace Park in Caloocan City.

Phase 1 of the project will connect NLEx from the Caloocan Interchange to España Boulevard.

“The actual work on the ground, for the first four or five [kilometers] would be towards the end of November,” NLEx Corp. president Luigi Bautista said.

The first section of the NLEx Connector project is targeted to be completed within 20 months.

The entire elevated road project spans eight kilometers, traversing the Caloocan Interchange along 5th Avenue through to España. It will eventually link with the Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3 at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) in Sta. Mesa, Manila.

The tender offer for the procurement process covering the second phase from España to PUP Sta. Mesa will start next month, Bautista said.

“Towards the end of March next year we should be able to appoint already a contractor for Section 2,” he said.

Section 2 is targeted to be completed in 18 months, he added.

The project will use portions of the existing right-of-way of the Philippine National Railways (PNR).

“Upon full completion in 2021, the NLEx Connector will significantly cut travel time from NLEx to SLEx by at least sixty percent. Instead of the usual two hours, travel time will now be reduced to about 20 minutes,” Public Works Secretary Mark Villar said.

“It will also provide accessibility for cargo trucks bound for Manila ports and the international airports such as NAIA and Clark,” the Cabinet official added. —VDS, GMA News