Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Vince Dizon has ordered NLEX Corp., operator of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), to waive toll fees for motorists traversing Balintawak to Marilao while repairs on the damaged interchange bridge are underway.

Dizon asserted that it is “only reasonable” for NLEX to temporarily lift the toll for those passing the northbound side of the expressway amid the traffic congestion.

“Dobleng pasakit naman sa mga motorista kung sisingilin pa sila nang buong toll habang ilang oras silang naiipit sa traffic kahit maikling distansya lang naman ang ibibiyahe nila,” he said in a statement on Friday, March 21.

(It's a double burden for motorists if they are charged the full toll while being stuck in traffic for hours, even if they're only traveling a short distance.)

“Maliit na pakonswelo lang ito sa abalang dinaranas ng mga motorista’t pasahero,” Dizon said.

(This is just a small consolation for the inconvenience motorists and passengers endure.)

On Wednesday morning, the Marilao interchange bridge was struck by an 18-wheeler truck exceeding vertical clearance. This resulted in severe damage to two bridge girders.

NLEX Corp. said these girders have been temporarily supported for safety, noting that they need to be replaced.

The repair work on the infrastructure is expected to take two weeks.

Dizon, however, found this timeline unacceptable and pushed for the repairs to be completed within a week.

He said the DOTr and its attached agencies are working closely with NLEX to repair the damaged bridge as quickly as possible.

"We are in close coordination with NLEX management and we thank them for their urgent response to the incident and their cooperation to mitigate traffic,” he explained.

Meanwhile, the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) has asked NLEX Corp. to explain why it should not face penalties for allowing a truck with excessive vertical clearance to enter the toll plaza, which led to damaging the bridge.

The operator earlier said the vehicle was able to sneak into the expressway by not using the truck lane, which has a sensor that flags an overweight vehicle.

The truck driver is now under police custody and is facing charges of reckless imprudence resulting in damage to property.

Aside from waiving the toll fees for the affected area, the Transportation Secretary said allocating more lanes to address the dire traffic is critical.

NLEX Corp. has since opened an additional lane in the northbound route to allow a faster flow of traffic.

A zipper lane in the southbound route will be opened when conditions allow.