Duterte’s ‘Build, Build, Build’: Reimagining Luzon

NIGHT OWL Anna Mae Yu Lamentillo A total of 939.38 km of High-Standard Highways/Expressways are targeted to be implemented/constructed in Luzon, which is about twice the 382.26 km of existing expressways. Once completed, the travel time from Metro Manila to La Union will be reduced from six hours and 55 minutes to three hours and 10 minutes. Moreover, travel time from Ilocos to Bicol will be reduced from 19 hours and 40 minutes to eight hours and 15 minutes. In 2019, DPWH under the leadership of Secretary Mark Villar will ground break and open critical sections of the following projects:

1. NLEX Harbor Link Segment 10

The 5.58-km, six-lane elevated NLEX Harbor Link, Segment 10, connecting MacArthur Highway and C-3 will decongest Metro Manila by providing access to NLEX without passing through EDSA or the Balintawak Toll Plaza. It will reduce travel time from Valenzuela City to C-3 Caloocan City from more than one hour to only five minutes, benefitting 20,000 motorists per day.

2. NLEX Harbor Link, R-10 Segment

The 2.60-km, 4-lane elevated ramp extending the NLEX Harbor Link Segment 10 exit to Radial Road 10 (R-10), using C-3 Road will shorten travel time from Manila to NLEX from one to one and a half hour to only 10 minutes.

3. Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3

The 17.973-km elevated expressway connecting Skyway Stage 1 in Buendia, Makati City, to the North Luzon Expressway in Balintawak, Quezon City, will reduce travel time from Alabang to Quezon City from 2 hours to only 20 minutes.

4. Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX)

The 89.31-km expressway from Tarlac City to Rosario, La Union, will reduce travel time between Tarlac City and Rosario, La Union, from 3.5 hours to only 1 hour.

5. Central Luzon Link Expressway, Phase I, Tarlac-Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija

The 30-km four-lane expressway will reduce travel time between Tarlac City and Cabanatuan City from 70 minutes to 20 minutes, decongesting traffic passing thru Daang Maharlika by about 48%.

6. Manila Cavite Toll Expressway Project, C-5 South Link Expressway

The 7.70-km 6-lane divided expressway, stretching from R-1 Expressway to SLEX/C5 will reduce travel time from R-1 Expressway to SLEX/C5 from 40 minutes to 10 minutes.

7. NLEX-SLEX Connector

The 8-km four-lane expressway from C3 Road in Caloocan City to PUP, Sta. Mesa, Manila to the common alignment of Skyway Stage 3, will reduce travel time between SLEX and NLEX from 1.5-2 hours to 15-20 minutes. It will reduce travel between Clark and Calamba from 3 hours to 1 hour and 40 minutes.

8. South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) Toll Road 4 (TR4)

The 66.74-km South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) Toll Road 4 expressway extension from Sto. Tomas, Batangas, to Tayabas/Lucena (Mayao), Quezon will facilitate faster and safer travel to Laguna, Batangas, Quezon, and the Bicol Region, reducing travel time from four hours to one hour. To be completed in 2021, the project will benefit 17,000 travelers per day.

9. Cavite-Tagaytay-Batangas Expressway (CTBEX)

An approximate 50-km tollway consists of a two-by-two lane carriageway traversing mostly the rural areas of Silang, Tagaytay, Amadeo, Mendez, Alfonso, and Magallanes, all in the Cavite province, and Nasugbu in Batangas.

10. Arterial Plaridel Bypass Road

The 24.61-km bypass road traverses the municipalities of Balagtas, Guiguinto, Plaridel, Bustos, and San Rafael in Bulacan and connects NLEX in Balagtas, Bulacan, with Maharlika Highway in San Rafael, Bulacan. When completed, the road project will reduce average travel time between Burol, Balagtas, and Maasim, San Rafael in Bulacan from 69 minutes to 24 minutes.