The North Luzon Expressway (NLEx)-South Luzon Expressway (SLEx) connector road project is an 8-kilometer elevated expressway that will cut travel time between NLEx to SLEx from over two hours to 15-20 minutes.
The P23.3-billion connector road will run from the terminal of Segment 10 on C-3 Road in Caloocan City up to SLEx, mostly passing through the Philippine National Railways tracks.
Manuel V. Pangilinan-led Metro Pacific Investments Corp., through Manila North Tollways Corp., signed a 37-year contract in November 2016 to finance, design, construct, operate and maintain the road project, which is set to start construction in May 2019.
Some 3,500 informal settlers in 38 barangays and 1,043 privately owned lots with a total land area of 8.7 hectares would be affected by the project, the city government of Manila said in November last year.
Detained Sen. Leila de Lima said in a statement last week that about 180,000 families would be displaced in the demolition of houses and shops to give way to the NLEx-SLEx connector road project and the P171-billion North-South Commuter Railway Project.
North-South Commuter Railway Project
The 653-km south line of the North-South Railway Project is poised to be the biggest public-private partnership project to date.
It will run from Manila to Legazpi City in Albay province.
It will consist of commuter railway operations between Tutuban in Manila and Calamba, Laguna, as well as long-haul railway operations between Tutuban and Legazpi City.
The project, among the public-private partnership deals left hanging by the previous administration, is being reviewed by the Department of Transportation, according to the Public-Private Partnership Center website.
Five Filipino conglomerates acquired bid documents in February 2016 to operate, maintain and upgrade the line over a period of 34 years.
The line is expected to service 316,000 passengers a day in its opening year and is projected to entice around 44,000 public and private vehicle users to shift their commutes to the modernized railway.
Sources: Inquirer Archives, dpwh.gov.ph