Cavitex offers to build P30-b Kawit expressway

Cavitex Infrastructure Corp., a unit of Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. which operates the 14-kilometer Manila-Cavite Expressway, plans to build another toll road from Kawit to Rosario at a cost of P30 billion.
“We got a no objection already from the DPWH [Department of Public Works and Highways]. We are now preparing the business case and investment proposal and then we will submit it within the year to TRB [Toll Regulatory Board],” Cavitex president Luigi Bautista said.
The proposal involves Segment 5 of Cavitex, a 7.6-kilometer road that will link Kawit to Noveleta and to Rosario. “The expressway is a combination of coast way and viaduct,” Bautista said.
The company earlier allocated P1.7 billion in capital expenditures to expand the Manila-Cavite Expressway.
“Cavitex’s capex this year is about P1.7 billon for C5 South Link’s work on the flyover and a number of Enhancement Works [lane widening for R1 Expressway, SN flyover near Pacific Drive and C5 access entry lane],” Bautista said.
Cavitex tapped FF Cruz Construction Inc. to construct the first phase of the Cavitex C5 South Link.
The first phase of Cavitex C5 South Link will connect C5 and Merville, Parañaque by way of a flyover.
The second phase will link Merville and Cavite at a cost of P9.5 billion.
Cavitex C5 South Link will allow residents from Cavite, Las Piñas and parts of Parañaque to avoid Edsa and take a direct link to and from C5 to Cavitex.
Bautista said the new expressway, which was expected to be completed in 2019, would add 40,000 to 45,000 vehicle traffic per day, on top of the 130,000 vehicles currently using Cavitex.

MNTC eyes P50-b expressway on C5

Manila North Tollways Corp. said it will submit an unsolicited proposal to build a P50-billion elevated expressway along Circumferential Road 5, connecting Commonwealth Ave. in Quezon City to the southern part of Metro Manila.

MNTC president and chief executive Rodrigo Franco said the company proposed to build more than 8.2 kilometers of elevated expressway from Commonwealth Ave. to Manila-Cavite Toll Expressway or Cavitex.

“We will re-submit it to DPWH [Department of Public Works and Highwayts] maybe in the second quarter. We need to rework the technical aspect,” he said.

The company initially submitted the proposed elevated expressway to the Toll Regulatory Board,  but the agency said the project should be submitted to DPWH.

Franco said the company needed to complete first the P8.6-billion NLEx-C5 Link project before undertaking a new elevated expressway along C5 under an unsolicited mode.

The 7.85-kilometer NLEx-C5 Link will start from the end of Segment 8.1 of North Luzon Expressway at Mindanao Avenue and end at Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City.

The C5 Link aims to decongest Metro Manila as it would provide alternative access to mainline North Luzon Expressway further east of Metro Manila, bypassing Edsa and Balintawak toll plaza.

Franco said for public private partnership projects, his company was also interested in the P14.2-billion Central Luzon Link Expressway Phase 2 and Plaridel Bypass Toll Road Project.

CLLEx Phase 2 is an extension of CLLEX Phase I and will connect Cabanatuan City to San Jose City, also in Nueva Ecija. Phase 1 will be constructed by the government with funding from the government of Japan.

The Plaridel Bypass Toll Road is a 23.3-kilometer road starting at the Balagtas interchange in NLEx up to San Rafael, Bulacan.

The road project traverses five towns of Bulacan, including Balagtas, Guiguinto, Plaridel, Bustos and San Rafael. It involves the conversion of the existing road into a toll road.

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NLEX Harbor Link Segment 10 completed by year-end — MNTC By Louella Desiderio (The Philippine Star)

Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC) expects to complete the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) Harbor Link Segment 10 by the end of the year.

“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).

DOTr: LRT-MRT common station still a go

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) is committed to pursue the establishment of a common station that would connect the Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT-1), Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3), and MRT-7 from North Ave. in Quezon City to San Jose del Monte, Bulacan province.

The project seeks to provide comfort to passengers by ensuring a seamless transfer among the major rail line systems.

DOTr public information officer Hope Libiran said the department is on track with its timeline to start the construction of the LRT-MRT common station by December and its completion in April 2019.

“It (LRT-MRT common station) is still a go,” she said in an interview with the Philippine News Agency (PNA).

The common station will be located between SM North and Trinoma malls and has three components: Area A, where the platform for LRT-1 and MRT-3 is located; Area B which consists of two common walkways connecting Area A and C; and Area C where the platform for MRT-7 is located.

The memorandum of agreement (MOA) for its construction was signed last January by the DOTr, SM Prime Holdings Inc., Universal LRT Corp. (BVI) Ltd. of the San Miguel Corp. (SMC), Light Rail Manila Corp. (LRMC), North Triangle Depot Commercial Corp. (NTDCC), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), and Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA), ending a more than seven-year impasse over the location of the railway project.

It is to be situated between the original 2009 location in front of the Annex at SM City North EDSA and the 2013 location near Trinoma mall.

Congress is currently conducting its probe on the common station project due to various concerns, such as its location, cost, and design.

Critics of the project claimed that it would cost the government PHP2.8 billion and would only be beneficial to the companies that will be involved.

The DOTr assured the public that no fare hike will be imposed for the construction of the common station project.

Moreover, it explained that the costs have increased due to its larger capacity, compared to the previous design on the project.

“The DOTr is seeing this as cost of governance for passenger convenience. It is an improved and bigger station with the private sector shouldering part of the cost. The initial location was approximately 7,200 sq. meters (sqm), the second location was approximately 2,500 sqm, while the current location is at 13,700 sqm. The size is projected to answer the future demand in passenger traffic,” DOTr spokesperson Assistant Secretary Cherie Mercado said in an earlier statement.

Under the said MOA, Area A will be financed and built by the DOTr, Area B by Ayala and its partners, and Area C by San Miguel.

The operation, maintenance, and development for Area A will be split between LRMC for LRT-1 and DOTr for MRT-3. Area B will be operated, maintained, and developed by Ayala and Area C by San Miguel.

The DOTr has also stated that the location of the common station near Trinoma was based on technical studies that would ensure convenience to the riding public.

For his part, LRMC chief and former public works secretary Rogelio Singson proposed that a temporary LRT station connecting Line 1 and MRT-3 be built in front of SM City North EDSA Annex.

He estimated that the temporary station would cost LRMC between PHP250 million and PHP280 million, and could be built in 10 to 12 months. The proposed temporary station is seen to run for two-and-a-half years to three years to recoup the expenses and would not affect the construction of the proposed common station. The cost would not be passed on to commuters by way of a fare increase.

The construction could start this year once the government approves the proposal.

The SMPHI, DOTr, and LRTA will file a joint manifestation with the Supreme Court to resolve the issue of the temporary restraining order (TRO) on the common station project and proceed with its construction.

An appeal for the lifting of the TRO will be filed by all parties after the detailed engineering designs are completed.

DOTr assures the proper handling and planning of the traffic impact of the construction of the Common Station and will put in place a Traffic Management Plan that will be approved by the Metro Manila Council and the I-ACT as part of its detailed engineering process.

The DPWH will build an underpass along EDSA at the area where the common station will be located.