NLEX Corporation announced that it has signed an agreement with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) for the construction of a new interchange in Sto. Tomas, Pampanga.
The Sto. Tomas Interchange, which is a part of the Greater Pampanga Circumferential Road Masterplan, will be linked to the DPWH's Lubao-Guagua-Minalin-Sto.Tomas (LGMST) bypass project.
DPWH will spearhead the project, but NLEX, TRB, and other stakeholders will cooperate in the completion and operation and maintenance of the interchange.
The infrastructure project aims to help decongest the Olongapo-Gapan Road, while improving communities within the vicinity of the interchange through agro-industrial growth.
The memorandum of agreement (MOA) was signed by NLEX Corporation Chief Finance Officer Maria Theresa O. Wells, Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC) CEO and President Rogelio Singson, DPWH Region 3 Assistant Regional Director Melquiades Sto. Domingo, TRB Executive Director Alvin A. Carullo, Sto. Tomas Vice Mayor Matias C. Pineda, Mayor Johnny A. Sambo, and fourth District of Pampanga Representative Cong. Anna York Bondoc – Sagum.
Singson said that Sto. Tomas is a wide area that needs good access.
“This interchange will not only improve Sto. Tomas but Minalin, Mexico, and all the communities that will be affected by the Lubao-Guagua-Minalin-Sto. Tomas Bypass, and in the bigger context, the Greater Pampanga Circumferential Road Master Plan,” he added.
According to Bondoc, the new NLEX interchange will be able to open new businesses, increased land values, new jobs, and attract more investors not just in the fourth district but also in southern Pampanga.
“As long as its technically, financially, and legally feasible, we will defend all projects like this that will spur economic development,” said Carullo on behalf of TRB.
The interchange is one of NLEX Corp.’s infrastructure projects like NLEX Candaba 3rd Viaduct, which is now 34 percent complete and set to be delivered by November 2024. The expansion of NLEX in San Fernando to Sta. Ines in Mabalacat, Pampanga is expected to begin in the second quarter of this year.