Manila North Tollways Corp. said on Tuesday it invested P211 million to expand its toll lanes at the Bocaue section of the North Luzon Expressway.
The operator of NLEx said the Bocaue Toll Barrier would be expanded to 33 toll lanes from 25 to further provide faster and convenient travel to southbound motorists.
The additional eight lanes, which are composed of four manual, two Easytrip and two mixed lanes, are being built at a cost of P210.8 million. The amount includes cost for civil works and fixed operating equipment.
The project, which is set to be completed in September this year, involves the construction of an eight-lane skewed toll plaza at the southbound portion of NLEx Bocaue. Four new pass-through lanes at the left side of the existing Bocaue Toll Barrier will lead motorists to the new toll plaza.
“These new toll lanes will help accommodate the growing number of motorists using the NLEx Bocaue Toll Barrier and ensure that motorists continue to experience speedy toll transactions at the NLEX especially during peak hours,” MNTC president and chief executive Rodrigo Franco said.
Over 50,000 vehicles use the southbound NLEx Bocaue Toll Plaza every day and traffic volume in the area increases by 10 percent to 15 percent during holidays when many motorists return to Manila from their trips in northern Luzon provinces.
MNTC earlier allotted P2.6 billion to finance the road widening project covering Segments 2 and 3 of NLEX to accommodate the growing number of vehicles plying the tollway.
The road widening project will expand the existing two-lane portion of NLEx between Sta. Rita and San Fernando to three lanes on both the northbound and southbound sides, while the current one-lane stretch between Dau and Sta. Ines will be expanded to two lanes on both sides.
The company is also investing P1 billion for the pavement improvement of the entire 94-kilometer stretch of Subic Clark Tarlac Expressway from 2016 to 2018.
MNTC earlier reported a net income of P922 million in the first quarter from P682 million last year.
It attributed the growth in net income to the higher toll revenues for the period, which expanded by 30 percent to P2.56 billion from P1.97 billion in 2015 as a result of traffic growth and the inclusion of the SCTEx toll revenues starting on October 27, 2015.
Average daily traffic in NLEx reached more than 214,000 daily vehicle entries, higher by 10 percent versus the same period last year.
Vehicle traffic for the SCTEx during the quarter reached 43,000 daily vehicle entries, higher by 18 percent compared from 37,000 daily entries in 2015.