Work on NLEX Connector to be completed Q1 2022

First 5-kilometer section of NLEX Connector is now 45% finished

Earlier this year, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Mark Villar said that work on the first 5-km segment of NLEX Connector has reached Manila. At the time, the said project was around 35% complete. It was supposed to be completed earlier, but progress has been delayed due to the pandemic.

Fast forward to September, NLEX Corporation, together with the DPWH, announced that progress on the first 5-km segment of the Connector is almost halfway done. This was confirmed by Villar, who personally inspected the public-private partnership (PPP) project.

“The first section of NLEX Connector from Caloocan Interchange to España Boulevard is nearly halfway done. We are targeting to deliver the full right-of-way (ROW) for this section by next month so we can further accelerate the project,” said Villar.

Acknowledging the DPWH's commitment to fast-track the ROW delivery, NLEX Corporation president and general manager J. Luigi Bautista said he was pleased that work on the project is now 45% complete.

“We are pleased that the construction activities are moving forward with the construction progress standing at 45 percent. Thanks to our government partner, DPWH, for securing the ROW requirements,” shared Bautista.

Since the first section of the NLEX Connector is being built within the properties of the Philippine National Railways (PNR), NLEX Corporation took advantage of the railway tracks to transport major structural components from one site to another.

As for the remaining 3-km segment between Espana Interchange and the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP), NLEX Corporation said that construction is set to commence within the year.

Once complete, the NLEX Connector will connect Harbor Link with Skyway and will serve as a direct route for truckers to get from Port of Manila to the south of Metro Manila (and vice versa). It will have four toll plazas and interchanges in C3 and Espana and is expected to serve 35,000 motorists daily.

It will traverse C3 Road in Caloocan City, pass through Abad Santos, Dimasalang, Magsaysay Boulevard, and eventually reach Skyway 3 near the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) in Sta. Mesa, Manila.