NLEX Harbor Link Segment 10 to open this January —DPWH

The North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) Harbor Link Segment 10 is set to be opened for motorists this month after the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) acquired 100 percent of the project's site.

The NLEX Harbor Link Segment 10 is composed of the 5.65-kilometer elevated expressway traversing the NLEX from MacArthur Highway Karuhatan, Valenzuela City, passing through Malabon City and C3 Road, Caloocan City, and the 2.6-kilometer section between C3 Road, Caloocan City and R10, Navotas City.

“We are happy to announce that the NLEX Harbor Link Project will be accessible to the public by January. When this is completed, travel time from C3 in Caloocan and NLEX, will be reduced to 10 mins,” Public Works Secretary Mark Villar said in a statement.

The Cabinet official noted that since the issuance of Department Order No. 65 last May 2018, the DPWH has acquired 100-percent possession of site of the NLEX Harbor Link Project Segment 10 as of December 2018, after a span of one year and seven months.

The DO No. 65 created a Right-of-way Task force (RTF) for each of the projects being implemented by the DPWH.

“The next phase will connect it to R-10 and reduce travel time from Port Area in Manila to Quezon City to approximately 10 minutes,” Villar said.

The Public Works chief said that since the issuance of DO No. 65, a significant progress in right-of-way acquisition of certain big ticket projects included in the "Build Build Build" program can be seen.

“The delegation of duties and responsibilities to the different RTFs technically decentralized the ROW acquisition process. The decentralization of ROW functions was done with the end in mind of expediting the whole ROW acquisition process,” Villar said.

The DPWH is also currently undertaking the finishing works in concreting the additional 600-meter segment which would make 2.7-kilometers of Mindanao Avenue Extension accessible within the first quarter of 2019.

"The project was started in the 1980s but was stopped for decades due to right-of-way issues. We are happy that it was during the term of President Duterte that we are able to deliver this project," Villar said.

"The P118-million project which is now 87.78% also involves construction of drainage and slope protection, reinforced concrete box culvert, and street lighting," he said.

Resumed in 2017, the construction resulted to the additional 700-meter road section from P. dela Cruz Street to MGM Road which was completed in June 2018, making 2.1-kilometers accessible by the public.

"Upon completion of the additional 600-meter segment, DPWH will be working on right-of-way issues along the missing 500-meter gap which will soon complete the full 3.2-kilometer stretch of the Mindanao Avenue Extension," Villar said.

“The completion of the 8-lane Mindanao Avenue Extension is our utmost priority as it will greatly reduce travel time by linking North Caloocan to the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) and Quezon City and improve traffic flow in the cities of Novaliches, Valenzuela and Caloocan City,” he added. —NB, GMA News

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/681479/nlex-harbor-link-segment-10-to-open-this-january-dpwh/story/