By Denise A. Valdez, Reporter
THE North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) Harbor Link Segment 10 mainline is slated to open in December after the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) successfully completed the delivery of right-of-way for the alignment of the toll road.
DPWH Secretary Mark A. Villar said during an inspection of the construction site on Friday that 100% right-of-way has been given to private concessionaire NLEX Corp. to finish the Harbor Link mainline from Karuhatan, Valenzuela City to C3 road in Caloocan City.
“Finally, ito na yung final update: 100% na na-deliver na right of way. Ano ang impact ng Harbor Link project? 30,000 cars a day minimum ang dadaan sa Harbor Link (Finally, here’s the final update: 100% has been delivered for the right-of-way. What is the impact of the Harbor Link project? A minimum of 30,000 cars a day are expected to traverse Harbor Link),” Mr. Villar said in the briefing.
“Lahat ng trucks na galing sa port, hindi na kailangan dumaan sa metro area. Didiretso na sa NLEx (All the trucks coming from the port area wouldn’t need to pass through the metro area anymore. They may head straight to NLEx),” he added.
Harbor Link Segment 10 is an 8.25-kilometer toll road from Karuhatan to Radial Road 10 (R-10), Navotas City. The mainline from Karuhatan to C3 is now 83% complete, while the spur road from C3 to R10 is 5% complete.
The alignment up to R-10 is scheduled to open by the fourth quarter of next year.
NLEX Corp. President Rodrigo E. Franco said the proposed toll fee for the whole P16.5-billion segment is an additional P6 to the toll open system, or the rates implemented for vehicles traveling within Quezon City, Valenzuela City, Meycauayan and Marilao.
“In the original project proposal, the toll will be an adjustment of the open system toll rate, which in the original proposal was at P6 incremental to toll on the open system. But this is still subject to final approval by the Toll Regulatory Board,” he said.
NLEX Corp. is part of Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., the tollways unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC).
MPIC is one of three key Philippine units of Hong-Kong based First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being Philex Mining Corp. and PLDT, Inc. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.

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