NLEX-SLEX connector road projects being finalized

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is already finalizing agreements for road projects linking the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) and the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX).

In a press briefing the other day, DOTC Secretary Manuel Roxas II said they would announce the signing of the agreements soon.

“We are finalizing agreements for the NLEX-SLEX connector road projects and we will soon make an announcement,” Roxas told reporters.

Public Works and Highways Secretary Rogelio Singson earlier said he would recommend to President Aquino the approval of the two elevated toll road projects of the SMC-Citra group and the Metro Pacific Tollway Development Corp. (MPTDC) linking SLEX and NLEX.

The SMC-Citra’s Skyway Stage 3 project and MPTDC’s NLEX-SLEX connector road are “two different projects, servicing two different corridors,” Singson said.

Previously, SMC-Citra and MPTDC had engaged in a debate on which of their proposals should be approved by the government amid concerns that the approval of one would mean the disapproval of the other.

However, the DOTC and the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) later declared that the two projects can co-exist.

The SMC-Citra group’s Skyway CPA (Citra PNCC Alignment) is envisioned to be a 14.2-kilometer extension of the integrated Skyway system that Citra will construct from Buendia in Makati City to Balin-tawak in Quezon City.

SMC-Citra said the alignment was just part of the four-stage, 30-kilometer Metro Manila Skyway project package approved by the government in 1995. 

“As such, it is not an unsolicited proposal and should not be subject to Swiss challenge. The Skyway system, also known as Skyway Stages 1 and 2 from Alabang to Buendia, were funded and built by Citra,” the group said in a statement.    

The TRB technical working group is currently reviewing the proposal. Once the review is completed by mid-2012, Citra is prepared to implement its concession and construct the project in 30 months.

Citra and SMC recently formed a joint venture firm, Atlantic Aurum Inc., wherein Citra has a 54 percent stake and SMC 46 percent, and which has secured control over the Metro Manila Skyway, the SLEX, and the Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (STAR).

The MPTDC is the holding company of listed Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC), builder and concessionaire of the 94-kilometer NLEX. 

The MNTC is the listed tollway firm of the Metro Pacific Investments Corp. controlled by tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan.

The MNTC also currently operates and maintains the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway under an interim operations and management agreement with the Bases Conversion and Development Authority.