PNCC urged to ease NLEX traffic

Transport Secretary Leandro Mendozza urged the Philippine National Construction Co. (PNCC) yesterday to adopt contingency measures to address the tremendous traffic brought by the ongoing rehabilitation of the North Luzon Expressway.

Mendoza made the call after receiving mounting complaints from Northern Luzon residents, commuter, vacationers and tourists.

"While the ongoing road improvement will benefit in the end, the PNCC should do something about the monstrous traffic jam created by the ongoing rehabilitation of the road. It should be able to device a mechanism that will ease the traffic situation in the area," Mendoza said.

He said the PNCC should task the Australian group that won the bidding to rehabilitate the North Luzon Expressway to design schemes that would improve the situation.

"The winning bidder, being foreign-owned, either did not anticipate the gridlock at entry points in places undergoing repair after four to five lanes of vehicles suddenly find themselves with only one entry point," Mendoza noted.