“Previous target (for completion) was middle of 2017, but we are moving that to end of the year,” MNTC president and CEO Rodrigo Franco told reporters yesterday.
He said the completion, however, would be subject to the government’s delivery of right of way for Segment 10 or the second and last component of the NLEX Harbor Link.
Segment 10, which is being built at a total cost of P10.5 billion, is an elevated roadway to link Segment 9 at the MacArthur Highway in Valenzuela City to C-3 Road in Caloocan City.
Segment 9, which is the first component of the NLEX Harbor Link, connects NLEX from the Smart Connect Interchange to MacArthur Highway.
The government has yet to deliver 35 percent of right of the way for Segment 10.
Franco said MNTC expects the remaining right of way to be given by the second quarter of the year.
“Our scheme here is we construct as the land is delivered. So basically, two areas are still missing. About 700 meters in Valenzuela and one kilometer in Caloocan,” he said.
Should MNTC complete the construction of the NLEX Harbor Link Segment 10 within the last quarter of this year, he said the roadway would be operational by January of next year.
After the completion of Segment 10, MNTC plans to extend it until R10 in Tondo.
The NLEX Harbor Link is expected to provide benefits in terms of promoting commerce between the Harbor area and Central and North Luzon as well as in helping ease congestion in Metro Manila through improved movement of cargo.
It will likewise serve as the take-off point for the NLEX — South Luzon Expressway connector road, another project of MNTC.
MNTC which operates the NLEx and Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway, is a unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC).
