NLEX Connector Road España section to open this month

North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) Corp. plans to open the España segment of the NLEX Connector Road by March 27 just in time to serve the usual traffic expected for the Holy Week, according to a report by Philippine Star.

Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan yesterday said the España section of the NLEX Connector Road has reached 98 percent completion and should be opened to the public by March 27.

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and NLEX Corp. will work on the delivery of the Sta. Mesa stretch of the extension project, with the target of finishing it by the second quarter.

“We are on our final stretch of construction for this first segment of the NLEX Connector Road. We are looking forward to opening it before the end of March,” Bonoan said.

“The next phase of the project is the three-kilometer section from España to Sta. Mesa, which the DPWH and NLEX Corp. are accelerating. We hope we can finish it by the second quarter of this year,” he said.

Bonoan said the opening of the NLEX Connector Road will reduce the volume of vehicles going around the roads of Manila City like España Boulevard, Abad Santos Avenue, Rizal Avenue and Lacson Avenue.

“We are targeting to open the España section before the Holy Week to help decongest vehicular traffic in Metro Manila, especially to and from the Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas and Valenzuela, or CAMANAVA, area,” the DPWH chief said.

NLEX Corp. president and general manager J. Luigi Bautista admitted that the project faced too many challenges, especially as construction began at the onset of the pandemic in February 2020. Afterward, the project faced issues on right-of-way, as it sat on top of portions of the Philippine National Railways.

Once completed, the NLEX Connector Road will stretch for eight kilometers from the Caloocan Interchange in C3 Road up to the Polytechnic University of the Philippines in Sta. Mesa, Manila City. It is expected to serve more than 35,000 motorists daily.

The P23.2-billion project will feature an interconnection bridge between NLEX and South Luzon Expressway that should cut travel time from Alabang to Balintawak to just 20 minutes.