North Luzon Expressway

Manila North Tollways (MNTC) is seeking $400m over the next four years to fund the Northern Luzon Expressway (NLEX) extension project in the Philippines.

Construction of the expressway extension is expected to commence in 2013 and will be finished within three years.The company plans to raise the funds through a combination of debt and internal cash.

Manila North Tollways president Rodrigo Franco said that the funding will be used primarily to for road extension segments on the NLEX project.

It will involve construction of three new segments in various parts of Metro Manila, covering 20km of new roads, and will reduce traffic congestion on the expressway, as well as make it more accessible to the 160,000 vehicles that the road carries every day.

Construction of a new elevated road from Valenzuela City to Circumferential Road 3 (C3) in Caloocan City is scheduled to begin in 2013 and the company will allocate PHP8bn ($190.5m) for this segment.

Franco said that the company will raise PHP6bn ($143m) of the total amount of PHP8bn ($190.5m) once it obtains approval from the government.

PHP10bn ($238.2m) will be spent for the planned C5 loop, which will cover a stretch from Mindanao Avenue Cloverleaf to Katipunan in Quezon City.

"Manila North Tollways president Rodrigo Franco said that the funding will be used primarily to for road extension segments on the NLEX project."

MNTC, the concessionaire for one of the country’s oldest toll roads, is planning to tap internally generated funds of PHP2bn ($47.7m) in order to build a segment that will connect the Caloocan-Malabon-Navotas-Valenzuela (Camanava) areas to Mindanao Avenue cloverleaf.

Built in 1988 and based in Caloocan City, MNTC is a wholly-owned unit of Metro Pacific Tollways, the toll road subsidiary of Metro Pacific Investments (MPIC).

MNTC builds and operates expressways and is involved in toll collection, traffic management, motorists’ assistance and roadway maintenance activities.

Image: The extension project will make Northern Luzon Expressway more accessible to the 160,000 vehicles that currently use the road every day. Photo: courtesy of Barrera marquez.