NLEX Corp. eyes opening of NLEX Connector section 1, work on Candaba Viaduct project in Q1

North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) operator NLEX Corporation said Tuesday that the opening of the first section of its NLEX Connector and the start of construction on the Candaba Third Viaduct are among of the developments it expects in 2023.

The company had earlier slated both for the second half of 2022.

In a statement, the company said that the NLEX Connector's first section, between the Caloocan and España interchanges, is 94% complete and expected to open within the first quarter of the year.

The second section, connecting España and Sta. Mesa, is now 29% complete, it added.

The entire NLEX Connector stretches eight kilometers from Caloocan Interchange on C3 Road to the vicinity of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) in Sta. Mesa, Manila.

The construction of the Candaba Third Viaduct is also set to commence in the first quarter of 2023. 

The project will expand the five-kilometer bridge between Pulilan, Bulacan, and Apalit, Pampanga—linking Metro Manila to parts of Central and north Luzon—from the existing three lanes without shoulder to three lanes with inner and outer shoulder per direction, the company said.

The expansion will also increase the maximum speed at the Viaduct from 60 kph to 80 kph, NLEX Corp. added.

Other projects in the pipeline are the construction of new expressway lanes in Pampanga from San Fernando to SCTEX Spur in Mabalacat; regular pavement repair and bridge strengthening programs; the replacement of traffic safety devices; the continuous enhancement of its toll systems; the installation of more closed-circuit television cameras along NLEX, SCTEX, and SFEX; and upgrading the NLEX-SCTEX traffic control center.

NLEX Corp. also said its NLEX-SCTEX patrol crews will start using electric vehicles (EVs) as part of the MVP Group’s thrust towards sustainability, it said.

The tollway company said it will also continue this year its resource-saving initiatives of harnessing solar power in select toll plazas.

At the end of 2022, NLEX Corp. said that in 2022 it finished the road-raising project in SCTEX, upgrading of Pampanga bridges, improvement of Balintawak Cloverleaf, enhancements in infrastructure, toll collection system, and account management system.

NLEX Corp. is a subsidiary of the Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC), the toll road arm of the Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC). — Ted Cordero/BM, GMA Integrated News