NLEX-SLEX Connector Road to be finished by September 2020

8-kilometer four-lane tollway will cost an estimated Php 23.2 billion
 
Just days after being awarded the North Luzon Expressway – South Luzon Expressway (NLEX-SLEX) Connector Road Project, Metro Pacific Tollways Development Corporation (MPTDC) submitted compliance requirements to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) which includes the estimated cost and its target completion date.

The NLEX-SLEX Connector Road Project is an eight-kilometer, four-lane elevated expressway estimated to cost Php 23.2 billion with an estimated date of completion set for September 2020.

The DPWH has previously received a "no objection" on the use of the Philippine National Railway (PNR) Right of Way from the Department of Transportation since August of 2012 to fast-track the completion of the said project.

It will start from the end of Segment 10 of the NLEX at Circumferential Road 3 (C-3) in Caloocan City connecting to the Polytechnic University of the Philippines campus in Sta. Mesa with a common point at the Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3.

Designed to have two interchanges at C-3 Road and España, Manila, the NLEX-SLEX Connector Road is expected to reduce travel time from 1.5 to 2 hours to only 15-20 minutes.

Next activity after the issuance of Notice of Award will be the signing of Toll Concession Agreement.

MNTC borrowing P11 B for connector road project By Louella Desiderio (The Philippine Star) | Updated September 28, 2016 - 12:00am

Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC) president and CEO Rodrigo Franco told reporters the firm intends to borrow 70 percent of the P16 billion construction cost of the project from banks. “We’ll start with the fourth quarter, but the process will take some time,” he said.

The project which has an estimated construction cost of P16 billion and right-of-way cost of P7 billion, involves building and operating a four-lane, eight-km elevated toll expressway over the right of way of the Philippine National Railways starting at the junction of the NLEX Segment 10 at C-3 Road/5th Avenue in Caloocan City, and connecting to the SLEX through the Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3 Project in Manila.

Tycoons end row on MRT hub posted September 27, 2016 at 11:55 pm by Darwin G. Amojelar

Four conglomerates agreed to end a seven-year deadlock over the location of the common station that will link Metro Manila’s overhead train system in Quezon City.

SM Group’s Tessie Sy-Coson and Hans Sy, Ayala Corp.’s Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, San Miguel Corp.’s Ramon Ang and Metro Pacific Investment Corp.’s Manuel Pangilinan reached an agreement in a meeting on Sept. 8 for a unified Light Rail Transit station to make commuting more convenient to the public.

The four parties also identified a single location of the common station to be built between The Annex at SM City North EDSA and Trinoma shopping mall (between Landmark), which would connect the three urban transit lines: LRT Line 1, Metro Rail Transit Line-3, and the proposed MRT-7, which would run from EDSA corner North Avenue in Quezon City to Araneta-Colinas Verdes Subdivision in San Jose del Monte City in Bulacan.

The location of the common station is important to SM and Ayala because of the additional foot traffic that it can bring to their respective malls.

The station will provide a common concourse or atrium where train commuters can conveniently transfer from one line to another.

The Transportation Department, Public Works Department, Light Rail Transit Authority, SM Prime Holdings Inc., Universal LRT Corp., Light Rail Manila Consortium, North Triangle Depot Commercial Corp. represented by Ayala Land Inc. will finalize the agreement on Sept. 28.

The Public Works Department also assured that the underpass to be built in the area would seamlessly integrate with the common station.

The parties are set to file a joint motion to the Supreme Court  to lift the temporary restraining order.

LRT-MRT common station to rise between SM, Trinoma

After DOTr forges consensus with stakeholders

AFTER a seven-year legal deadlock, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said on Tuesday that it has forged a consensus with stakeholders on a single location for the common station that will connect the LRT Line 1, MRT-3, and the proposed MRT-7.

The DOTr, Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA), SM Prime Holdings, Inc. (SMPHI), Universal LRT Corp. (ULC) and Light Rail Manila Consortium (LRMC), North Triangle Depot Commercial Corporation represented by Ayala Land, Inc. (ALI), and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) are set to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) today, September 28, to finalize the agreement.

The MOU will pave the way for the filing of a joint motion to the Supreme Court to lift the temporary restraining order on the construction of the common station for the three urban transit lines.

The common station, which will be built between SM North EDSA and Trinoma, with access to both malls and major roads such as EDSA, will provide a common concourse or atrium for train commuters to conveniently transfer from one line to another.

The DPWH also assured that the underpass being built will seamlessly integrate with the common station.

Getting all parties to agree was among the targets set by DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade within the first 100 days in office, and it involved engaging all stakeholders in meetings in order to reach a consensus.

In a meeting earlier this month, the country’s top executives–SM’s Tessie Sy Coson and Hans Sy, Ayala’s Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, San Miguel’s Ramon Ang, and Metro Pacific’s Manny Pangilinan–agreed that a unified station was necessary to make commuting more convenient to the public.

The Common Station project started in 2009 and has been on hold due to legal issues. The LRTA inked a deal with SMPHI to build the station near SM North EDSA. Four years later, the then-Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) decided to build the station near Ayala’s Trinoma, citing lower costs as a reason for the change of location.

The Supreme Court intervened and issued a TRO in favor of SMPHI to stop the construction of the common station.

Common station won’t separate 3 rail systems – DOTr By Ghio Ong (The Philippine Star) | Updated September 23, 2016 - 12:00am

Contrary to earlier reports, a common train station located between two malls on North Avenue in Quezon City would connect, not separate, Metro Manila’s three rail systems, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said Wednesday.

“They will be connected via a common concourse, which will allow commuters to transfer from one line to another conveniently,” DOTr Assistant Secretary for communications Cherie Mercado-Santos wrote to The STAR.

She was referring to the Light Rail Transit Line 1, which runs from Roosevelt in Quezon City to Baclaran in Pasay City; Light Rail Transit Line 2, which runs from Santolan in Pasig City to Recto Avenue in Manila, Metro Rail Transit Line 3, which runs from North Avenue in Quezon City to Taft Avenue in Pasay City; and the MRT Line 7, which is under construction and would cover EDSA corner North Avenue in Quezon City to Araneta-Colinas Verdes Subdivision, City of San Jose del Monte in Bulacan.

The STAR previously reported that House Minority Leader and Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez “mentioned that he was surprised when (DOTr Secretary Arthur) Tugade told him in a recent congressional hearing that MRT-7, which will run from The Annex at SM City North Edsa to Araneta-Colinas Verdes Subdivision, City of San Jose del Monte in Bulacan, is to be detached from MRT-3 and LRT-1.”

Tugade said in August that he talked to private sector parties involved in the common station project and agreed to sign a memorandum of agreement.

The conflict over the common station started when the Department of Transportation and Communications decided to have the common station near Ayala Group’s Trinoma mall, citing savings in construction cost as well as convenience of passengers, even as the LRT Authority and SM entered into an agreement to put up a common station for the railways near the Annex at SM City North EDSA mall in 2009.