The North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) Caloocan Interchange along C3 Road is now nearer to completion following the recent launch of a massive steel girder for the multi-level interchange.
This interchange, which will serve as a strategic converging point for NLEX Harbor Link Segment 10, the segment’s C3-R10 Section, and the NLEX Connector, is aimed at providing efficient journeys for motorists traversing the NLEX network from NLEX to Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, Manila and vice versa, operator NLEX Corporation said in a statement.
“The installation of these girders is crucial in our construction process as we target to open the Malabon Exit by February 2020 and the entire C3-R10 Section by March 2020,” NLEX Corp. president and general manager J. Luigi L. Bautista said.
So far, the tollway company has completed most of the bored pile foundations for the C3-R10 Section, while column, crosshead erection works, beam launching, and deck concreting are progressing rapidly.
Considering the project’s current status and onsite productivity rate, the tollway company said the project should be delivered on schedule.
“Our team is working double-time to make the C3-R10 Section accessible and provide travel convenience to our motorists,” Bautista said.
Opened in February 2019, NLEX Harbor Link Segment 10 is the 5.65-kilometer (km), six-lane elevated expressway that originates in Karuhatan, Valenzuela City over Governor Pascual Avenue in Malabon City and Caloocan Interchange. It extends 2.6 kilometers from Caloocan to R10, Navotas City.
NLEX Connector, on the other hand, is also under construction. The 8-kilometer expressway is being built along the Philippine National Railways (PNR) tracks from the end of Segment 10 on C3/5th Avenue to Polytechnic University of the Philippines in Sta. Mesa, Manila.
Secretary Mark Villar of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the agency in charge of the project, said the new interchange is essential to completing the NLEX Harbor Link Segment 10 C3-R10 Section—a highly anticipated expressway project that is seen to benefit around 30,000 vehicles daily.
The C3-R10 Section will cater to port traffic to significantly speed up the transport of goods from Central and North Luzon to Port of Manila.
“The NLEX Harbor Link will significantly impact trade and commerce, while also providing solutions to Metro Manila traffic woes as cargo trucks will have 24/7 access from the port to NLEX,” Villar said.
NLEX Corp. said various stakeholders who stand to benefit from the soon-to-open C3-R10 Section are optimistic that this will ease traffic for the transport industry and the people.
“When the off-ramp directly to the port becomes operational, we can do more trips because there will be less travel time, there is no truck ban on NLEX plus we can save on diesel consumption,” Confederation of Truckers Association of the Philippines president Mario Yap said.
Malabon City mayor Antolin Oreta III noted that “the completion of the entire NLEX Harbor Link will help reduce the number of cargo vehicles piling up on local roads, make commuting less stressful for the public, and improve productivity in our city.”
