C3-MacArthur Highway road link almost done

The Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC) is nearing completion of the North Luzon Expressway Harbor Link with construction about to start on the project’s last component next month.

Segment 10—a 5.65-kilometer, four-lane elevated road—will connect MacArthur Highway in Valenzuela City to C3 Road in Caloocan, providing an accessible link to seaport areas. It is estimated to cost P10.5 billion.

The NLEx Harbor Link’s other component, Segment 9—a 2.4-kilometer road that stretches from NLEx Smart Connect Interchange on NLEx Mindanao Avenue Link to MacArthur Highway in Valenzuela City—is expected to be operational in the middle of this year.

MNTC president and chief executive officer Rodrigo Franco said the NLEx Harbor Link would promote commerce as it would lead to “unhampered transport of goods, since there is no truck ban inside the

expressways.”

He added that once completed, the link would also decongest traffic in major roads as the estimated daily traffic on the NLEx Harbor Link was pegged at 30,000 vehicles.

“NLEx Harbor Link as a whole will also promote a more efficient inter-regional movement of people. Cargo trucks and passenger bus drivers will not have to pass through the (cities’) congested areas,” Franco said.