Gov’t asked to approve connector tollroad plan

North Luzon Expressway operator Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. wants to start a major elevated connector tollroad for Metro Manila by the third quarter of the year to meet a commitment to finish the project before President Aquino steps down in 2016, a company official said.

The deal, which requires the final approval from the government, would provide a link between the NLEx and South Luzon Expressway to help ease congestion on Metro Manila’s main roads, said MPTC president Ramoncito Fernandez in an interview.

Fernandez said MPTC was in talks with the Toll Regulatory Board, with the intention of getting a supplemental toll operations agreement. The approval would pave the way for the construction of the toll road.

A TRB spokesperson did not immediately respond to an Inquirer request for comment. However, the agency spokesperson said last month that the basic alignment of the tollroad had been approved.

The approval process here is key in getting the project to move forward. Based on the schedule earlier provided by MPTC, the company would need the government’s nod within the quarter to keep its construction deadline.

MPTC earlier made a slight modification to the design, which now included a so-called spur road to provide another link from MPTC’s 8-km elevated connector road to Manila’s port area.

Metro Pacific’s 8-km section will be linked to a 5-km common section to be shared with a separate “connector” toll road being built by conglomerate San Miguel Corp. and the Citra Group of Indonesia.