SINCE time immemorial, traffic congestion has been the country’s perennial problem that continuously affects not only the peoples’ lives but also impedes the nation’s economic progress and development.
In fact, a Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) study released in 2012 revealed that the Philippines had lost P2.4 billion a day due to traffic woes in Metro Manila. Six years later, Jica reported that this figure had grown to P3.5 billion. With the lack of infrastructure intervention, experts project that economic losses could surge to P5.4 billion in 2035.
With the massive “Build, Build, Build” program of President Rodrigo Duterte, however, the country could actually reverse the trend. At the heart of this ambitious yet realistic flagship project of the government is the P633 bilion Luzon Spine Expressway Network Program of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
From the time when Secretary Mark Villar initially laid out their plan for this priority initiative comprised of a total of 905 kilometers (km) of high-standard highways in Luzon—more than twice the existing network of expressways at 382 km—some of the road projects included herein have already come into fruition, while others are undergoing construction or still in the pipeline as scheduled.
On track to meet their respective completion targets prior or beyond the term of Duterte by 2022, their collective goal of reducing travel time between Ilocos and Bicol from 20 hours to just nine hours is in the offing. This will be among the legacies that the current administration will leave for today’s generation of public commuters to enjoy when they travel from North to South of Luzon, or vice versa, for the first time in their existence.
Completed highway projects
FOLLOWING Duterte’s election in 2016, the second phase of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Expressway, which spans at 14.85-km and with four lanes, was the first project already finished under the Luzon Spine Expressway Network Program in 2017. Upon completion of this P18.07 billion project three years ago, the country’s main gateways to the outside world—Naia Terminals 1, 2, and 3—are now accessible.
This elevated expressway from the endpoint of Naia Expressway Phase I to Pagcor Entertainment City also has an interface with the Skyway and Cavite Expressway (Cavitex). Travel time between Skyway and Terminal 1 was cut from 24 minutes to eight minutes.
Already done in April 2019, the P9 billion North Luzon Expressway (Nlex) Harbor Link Segment 10 is a 5.58-km expressway that links McArthur Highway to C-3. It lessens travel time from Valenzuela to Caloocan to just five minutes from more than an hour. On a daily basis, it serves 20,000 motorists.
Another part of the Nlex Harbor Link, the C3-R10 Section, was also completed just this year. This 2.6 km, six-lane divided, all-elevated portion of the expressway traverses C3 Road in Caloocan and Radial Road 10 in Navotas. Since the opening of this P6.55 billion project last June, going back and forth from port area to Nlex has been cut from an hour to merely 10 minutes for 30,000 commuters per day.
The year 2020, likewise, saw the rise of the P5.79 billion Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (Tplex) that runs at 89.21 km. Going between Tarlac City and Rosario, La Union is now slashed by 2.5 hours from 3.5 hours to an hour, thus, benefiting 20,000 travelers plying here everyday. Its third section, from Urdaneta City in Pangasinan to Rosario in La Union, was opened to traffic last July 15.
To further help ease the traffic situation in Luzon, the plan to build an extension (59.4-km, four-lane toll road) from the end of Tplex in Rosario to San Juan, La Union has been greenlighted by the DPWH. The proposed P24.10 billion project is now being evaluated by the National Economic and Development Authority-Investment Coordination Committee.
Ahead of its October 31 committed deadline, the DPWH led early last month the ceremonial opening of the P44.86 billion Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3 Project—an 18.83-km elevated expressway from Buendia in Makati to Nlex in Balintawak, Quezon City. This project has five sections—Buendia–Quirino Avenue-Nagtahan, Nagtahan–Aurora Blvd/Ramon Magsaysay Avenue, Ramon Magsaysay Avenue-Quezon Avenue, Quezon Avenue-Balintawak, and Balintawak Quezon City-Nlex Footbridge—that are expected to ease the flow of traffic along Epifanio delos Santos Avenue or Edsa and other major thoroughfares by at least 55,000 vehicles daily.
Secretary Villar said that the Skyway Stage 3’s completion is indicative of Duterte’s political will to link each city in Metro Manila within a half-an-hour time frame. For instance, traveling from Makati to Quezon City will be reduced from two hours to only 15 to 20 minutes, while going to South Luzon Expressway (Slex) from Nlex will be shortened from 2.5 hours to only 30 minutes once it fully opens by December of this year.
Ongoing construction activities
UNFAZED by the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, the DPWH has continued working on the other component projects of the government’s north-south spine network initiative.
Stretching at 30 km, the four-lane Central Luzon Link Expressway is a P14.94 billion highway project from Tarlac City to Cabanatuan City in Nueva Ecija. It’s almost done already (89.63 percent complete) and is expected to be finished by July 2021. By then, around 11,200 travelers will enjoy a daily trek there in just 20 minutes from the usual one hour and 10 minutes.
The 10 billion Alabang-Sucat Skyway Connection and Ramp Extension Project is presently 47 percent complete. Its additional two lanes northbound and an additional at-grade roadway are set to be finished by next month. Two more lanes southbound, on the other hand, are scheduled to open in July of next year.
A slew of other public works are all set to be delivered before or after the president concluded his term of office in Malacañang in 2022.
One of which is the Manila Cavite Toll Expressway Project, C-5 South Link Expressway pegged at P12.645 billion. Traversing this 7.70-km six-lane highway from R-1 Expressway to Slex/C5 will be a breeze in just 10 minutes from 40 minutes that it used to be. Due for completion in the next couple of years, its Segment 3A-1 (Merville to C-5/Slex) was inaugurated and opened to traffic on July 23, 2019, while the groudbreaking rites for Segment 2 (R-1 Interchange to Sucat Interchange) and 3A2 (E. Rodriguez to Merville) were held on July 10, 2020.
Further south is the ongoing P35.68 billion Cavite-Laguna Expressway (Calax), a 45.29-km highway linking Cavitex in Kawit, Cavite and Slex-Mamplasan interchange in Biñan, Laguna. Construction at its portion in Laguna has so far reached 78.03 percent accomplishment rate. A subcontractor for Cavite Segment Subsection 1 has been already mobilized. Once fully done in the next two years, driving here is expected to be shorter from 1.5 hours to 45 minutes.
Around 42,477 to 88,338 motorists will be served daily by the Southeast Metro Manila Expressway, C-6 (Phase I) project. This initiative worth P45.29 billion is designed as a 32.664-km toll road from Skyway/FTI in Taguig to Batasan Complex in Quezon City. To date, its Section 1 (Skyway/FTI-C5/Diego Silang) is 12 percent accomplished. Once finished in 2022, travel time from Bicutan to Batasan from an hour and 50 minutes will be trimed to 26 minutes.
The 8-km four-lane Nlex-Slex Connector Road extends the Nlex southward from the end of Segment 10 in C3 Road, Caloocan to Polytechnic University of the Philippines in Sta. Mesa, Manila, and links to the Skyway Stage 3. This P23.30 billion elevated highway aims to cater to 35,000 motorists per day. With 11 percent of which already done, it’s just on time to be finished by March 2022, mitigating travel time from two hours to only 20 minutes.
The longest paid highway to rise in two years time—the South Luzon Expressway-Toll Road 4 (TR-4) Project—has a length of 66.74-km stretching from Sto. Tomas, Batangas to Tayabas/Lucena City in Quezon. Construction of the Tiaong Interchange in Quezon and Alaminos, Laguna is now ongoing. Approximately, 17,000 commuters stand to benefit daily from this P13.10 billion toll road. It will cut travel time from Sto. Tomas to Lucena from four hours to an hour.
Beyond 2022, the Camarines Sur Expressway is expected to lessen the time of traveling in this part of the Bicol region from 51 minutes to 11 minutes. This P9.235 billion highway project (15.21-km divided by four lanes) will connect the municipalities of San Fernando and Pili in Camarines Sur province. It’s construction pace has so far reached 13 percent.
The widening of the 24.61-km Arterial (Plaridel) Bypass Road from two lanes to four lanes is almost done at 89.97 percent. The third phase of this P5.26 billion project is seen to cut average travel time between Burol, Balagtas and Maasim, San Rafael in Bulacan from 69 minutes to 24 minutes. Targeted to be completed in April 2023, it is capacitated to serve 15,000 motorists everyday.
Upcoming expressways
COMMENCING its construction by next year, the proposed NLEX Harbor Link, Segment 8.2 project is an 8.35-km long highway divided by four lanes. This P7.48 billion initiative, with the end goal of decreasing travel time between Mindanao Avenue and Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City from 45 minutes to 10 minutes, is scheduled to be finished by 2024.
A couple of expressways, on the other hand, is expected on the southbound portion of DPWH’s high-speed highway: the Cavite-Tagaytay-Batangas Expressway and the Quezon-Bicol Expressway.
The former is a 50.43-km tollway road across Silang, Tagaytay, Amadeo, Mendez, Alfonso, and Magallanes in Cavite, as well as Nasugbu in Batangas. The latter, which spans at 220-km, will deduct travel time from Tayabas, Quezon to San Fernando, Camarines Sur by two hours.
Meanwhile, five more highways in the pipeline include the North Eastern Luzon Expressway; Central Luzon Link Expressway, Phase II, Cabanatuan-San Jose, Nueva Ecija; North Luzon East Expressway (La Mesa Parkways Project); North Luzon Expressway East; and C3 Missing Link Project (Southern Segment).
All these masterplanned high-standard highways and expressways in Luzon truly show the commitment of the national government, through its engineering and construction arm DPWH, to decongest the road network in the metropolis and other parts of the region that will pave the way for a safe and comfortable travel to the commuting public and, at the same time, provide ample infrastructure support to the local supply chain and logistics sector that is pivotal in the economic growth of the country, especially in these trying times.
1 comment
Kailan po umpisahan ang northeast luzon expressway from Quezon City to cabanatuan city.