The North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) Corp. on Tuesday thanked Valenzuela Mayor Rex Gatchalian for allowing them to present concrete solutions to improve local traffic conditions.
In anticipation of the influx of holiday travelers, NLEX has reopened cash lanes in all toll plazas of the expressway.
Among the immediate operational traffic solutions agreed upon is the transfer of radio frequency identification (RFID) sticker installation and account reloading transactions away from the toll gates.
New RFID toll lanes will also be added in Karuhatan and Mindanao toll plazas "to allow existing current RFID users to have better access to the RFID lanes and improve their travel time."
The installation site at Karuhatan toll plaza will be relocated to the Santolan area inside the expressway. Meanwhile, the installation site in Mindanao toll plaza will also be relocated about 500 meters inside the expressway near the Que Grande overpass area.
The request of motorists for accounts reloading will be entertained after the toll gates and will be transacted after entry.
NLEX said the measures will minimize the bottlenecks at the Karuhatan and Mindanao toll gates and achieve a more efficient use of limited road space especially during rush hours.
The expressway also vowed to accelerate the ongoing sticker replacement program and boost the implementation through a targeted SMS text blast to better reach out to customers.
To address potential traffic queuing at the toll gates during rush hours, NLEX also offered to implement "barrier up" operations in all Valenzuela City toll gates.
Gatchalian earlier said removing toll barriers outside rush hour would improve the flow of traffic.
"There can be no gray area, it's either we're barrierless, barriers up, or barriers down," the local chief executive said during a meeting with NLEX Corp. officials Monday (December 14).
"Pag rush hour pwede, bakit perpetually hindi pwede barriers up? (During rush hour, it's possible, why not implement the barriers up perpetually?)" he added.
Gatchalian maintained the LGU will only lift the business permit suspension if NLEX agrees to remove all barriers in toll plazas.
In response, NLEX president and general manager J. Luigi Bautista said the company will have to study the implementation first.
"Yung (the) barriers up, that's where we are headed," Bautista added.