Metro Pacific Investments Corp. is mobilizing initial civil works for the P23.3-billion Connector Road, in time for the full-blast construction of the said highway in the first half of 2019.
Rodrigo E. Franco, who sits as president at Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., said the company aims to start building the link road for the North and South Luzon Expressways (Nlex-Slex) within the first three months next year.
He noted, however, that his group is implementing advance works for the said thoroughfare section.
“We would want to be able to mobilize construction toward the fourth quarter and full-blast construction is for the first quarter of 2019,” Franco said in an interview in Cebu last week.
He noted that right-of-way acquisition and delivery are “moving.”
“The government’s deadline is to deliver the first section in the second quarter of next year,” he said. “So were working within the timetable.”
The Connector Road is envisioned to be an 8-kilometer (km), four-lane elevated toll road that will connect the Nlex and Slex.
It will extend the southward portion of Nlex from the end of Segment 10 in C-3 Road Caloocan City to PUP Santa Mesa, Manila and connecting to the Skyway Stage 3, and mostly traversing the PNR rail track.
The project, which has a price tag of P23.3 billion, includes two interchanges at C-3 Road, Caloocan and España, Manila.
Franco earlier said his group is keen on tapping the bond market to fund the P16 billion in construction costs for the Connector Road.
The Connector Road will be operated by Nlex Corp.
Infrastructure conglomerate Metro Pacific is the largest toll road company in the Philippines. It also has interests in expressway operators in Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia.