Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. on Monday bared plans to spend P153 billion throughout the term of President Duterte to develop new expressways and improve existing ones in line with the government’s infrastructure development program to support initiatives to decongest traffic in the metropolis.
Rodrigo E. Franco, the company president, said there are several projects in the pipeline, which include the P23.3-billion Connector Road, the P55.9-billion Cavite-Laguna Expressway (Calax), the P11.7-billion Cavitex C-5 South Link and the P27.9-billion Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway.
The company’s tollways—the North Luzon Expressway (Nlex), the Subic-Clark Tarlac Expressway and the Manila-Cavite Toll Expressway—are also up for widening and extension, he said.
Included in the pipeline are the P2.5-billion widening program for Segment 2 and Segment 3 of Nlex, the P10.5-billion construction of the Harbor Link, the P6-billion extension of the Nlex to R10 road in Manila and the P8.9-billion project to extend the Nlex all the way to Luzon Avenue in Quezon City.
“With these projects in the pipeline, we will see a great improvement in traffic decongestion in Metro Manila as we embark on more infrastructure projects to connect the North and the South,” Franco said. Funding for these projects will be a mix of equity and loans. Franco said the company is already in talks with several banks for the financing of big-ticket deals, such as the Calax and the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway.
His group may borrow as much as P20 billion for Calax, and P17 billion for the toll-bridge initiative.
These were announced during the launch of the company’s motorist assistance program for the Holy Week.
“These investments, along with the enhanced services of the Safe Trip Mo Sagot Ko, or SMSK, during Holy Week and other holidays, will hopefully shorten the time spent by motorists on the road, so they can have more time for productive work and more quality time for their loved ones,” Franco said.
The annual motorist assistance program aims to ease traffic congestion along the expressways operated by Metro Pacific, all of which are expected to handle 15 percent more vehicles during the Lenten season compared with normal days.
For those going north, heavy volume of vehicles is expected in the afternoon of April 12 until late morning of April 13. Those traveling back to Manila may expect a surge in traffic in the afternoon of April 15 until the early morning of April 17.
From April 7 to 17, additional patrol vehicles and enforcers will be deployed to
assist motorists. Ambulant toll tellers equipped with portable toll-collection gadgets will be fielded to speed up toll transactions. Also during this period, road works will be suspended to ensure smooth traffic flow.
To better serve motorists, on April 7, 8, 12 and 13, the Balintawak Toll Plaza will open a maximum of 30 toll-collection points instead of the usual 16, and the Mindanao Avenue Toll Plaza will also increase its toll-collection points to 15 from five.
Toll collection points in Tarlac Toll Plaza will be increased to 29 instead of five, while the Tipo Toll Plaza will have 12 toll-collection points, instead of four.
Southbound motorists may also experience further convenience from April 15 to 16 as the Bocaue Toll Plaza opens a maximum of 53 toll collection points.
On April 12 to 16, the company and its partners will provide free services such as free calls and Wi-Fi, free basic mechanic services and first aid treatments in designated locations along Nlex, Sctex, and Cavitex.
Free towing services to the nearest exit will be offered to Class 1 vehicles from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Free drinking water will also be available at SMSK Motorist Camps in Sctex PTT Station, Floridablanca lay-by, Seaoil Station, and Cavtiex Parañaque and Kawit toll plazas.