Manila North Tollways Corp. said Tuesday it will spend P354 million to add lanes in three major toll plazas at North Luzon Expressway.
The expansion program, which began last month and is expected to be completed by May 2017, covers the Balintawak, Mindanao and Meycauayan toll plazas.
“Improving the capacity of our toll plazas would mean more comfortable travel experience for our motorists,” MNTC president and chief executive Rodrigo Franco said.
Franco said the new toll lanes would bring relief to motorists by reducing waiting time at the toll plazas.
MNTC said at the Balintawak toll plaza, it would construct eight more toll lanes to increase the total from the current 17 to 25 toll lanes.
A new toll plaza in a fishbone configuration is being constructed to serve the growing number of motorists traveling between Metro Manila and the provinces in Central and Northern Luzon.
MNTC said a three-lane toll plaza, also featuring a fishbone design, is being built at NLEx Mindanao Avenue. Since it opened in 2010, the Mindanao toll plaza, currently with six lanes, has been providing motorists from Quezon City with a convenient alternative entry to the expressway.
MNTC is also expanding the southbound toll plaza in Meycauayan, Bulacan from four lanes to five.
The company will move the current toll plaza a few meters ahead of existing location to make room for the additional toll lane.
The Meycauayan Interchange is undergoing other enhancements that include the signalization of the Meycauayan east roundabout and the construction of two additional exit ramps in Barangay Pandayan and Barangay Libtong.
To allow the construction to proceed unhampered, MNTC temporarily closed the leftmost lane of the southbound portion of the Balintawak toll plaza.
“Motorists heading towards the Balintawak and Mindanao toll plazas as well as the Meycauayan southbound toll plaza are, thus, advised to keep right as the leftmost lanes of all three toll plazas will likewise be closed,” Franco said.