R8 - North Luzón Expressway

[dudz]

aaron, which part is this? papunta ba itong tabang? if so, two-lanes lang pala ang portion na ito. was asking, kasi the two-lane stretch of nlex past sta. rita exit alam ko walang namang lampposts pa. it's nice, thank you.

[tyronne]

very nice thanks aaron.

[thomasian]

Hindi na actually part yan nung main expressway, yan yung palabas na.
Hindi ako sure kung anong bayan ng Bulacan papunta yan pero alam ko yan yung exit bago mag Pulilan.

[dudz]

tama, sa may tabang nga ito. nagulat lang kasi ako sa lampposts, tapos two lanes lang ang road kaya akala ko naginstall na ng ilaw sa may pampanga part ng nlex (naisip ko...ang bilis naman). i also didn't know that they didn't expand this portion to more than two lanes. nway, salamat ulit aaron

[stephencua]

i found this enriching editorial at www.philstar.com.. hopefully more people would see the beauty of the NLEX..

‘An intelligent tollway’
FROM THE STANDS By Domini M. Torrevillas
The Philippine Star 08/09/2005

Media people like to believe what they’re told if they see it with their own eyes. So it was that a group of editors and columnists, including yours truly, took a trip to Bulacan to a see, and experience, the thrill of riding through the new North Luzon Expressway, otherwise called NLE, or NLEX. You bet, we were unanimous in saying that the NLE proves true what its promoters say – that "the road to a better life starts here."

We had about 15 minutes (before it was 30 minutes) seamless travel, over smooth lanes from Balintawak, then exited at Tabang then went on the busy, dusty McArthur Highway going to Baliwag then Malolos. The 15-minute seamless travel is said – and we believe it – to reflect the whole 84-kilometer stretch of NLE from Balintawak up to Sta. Ines, Pampanga which is the end of the road. The 84-km stretch now takes only one hour to traverse, as opposed to two hours, up to December last year when the NLE system became operational.

Just before we turned into the Balintawak tollgate, we made a stop at the Operations and Management Center where we were briefed on NLEX operations by Manila North Tollways Corporation (MNTC) president and CEO Jose de Jesus, Tony Mabasa, president of Tollways Management Corporation (TMC) and Benjie Suzar, TMC marketing services manager.

From the briefing room we moved to the traffic control room where technicians monitor vehicle movements along the expressway. We could see on computer screens all sorts of vehicles at the toll booths, plying the expressway, or having a breakdown, and the emergency call booths (100 of them on the NLE), from where motorists stop to report such breakdowns. Benjie assured us that motorists in distress are assisted within an average of 20 minutes by a patrol crew.

Then we moved on to the toll supervision booth, where we saw the televised goings on at the toll booths. So everything moving on the lanes are monitored, and hidden cameras click at vehicles going beyond the speed limit.

The expressway officers are quite strict about speed limits, overloading, and vehicles without tail lights. LTO officers come up to the motorists and fine them. I think it was Burpie, or was it Tony? who said that a number of government officials have been caught overspeeding, and they were mad when apprehended at the exit tollgate. But now, generally, apprehended drivers express satisfaction over pictures shown them at the exit gate showing their speed through the photos taken by hidden cameras. "Hey, it’s good they have modern surveillance systems here," is the usual comment.

But there was one Porsche sportscar driver who zoomed above the limit (the speed limit is 100 kph but going beyond that to 120 kph is pardoned). The NLE patrol officer could not stop him at the toll gate as he (the driver) simply whizzed through the gate because he was carrying an E-pass. But we saw the picture of the Porsche and its travel speed registered on the screen.

Benjie told us that from 90 to 100 citations are issued a day. Twenty-five percent of vehicular breakdowns are caused by tire defects (such as recapped tires, deterioration and not having the right pressure.)

Tony said that since February, 160 deaths have been caused by vehicular accidents, some of them due to overspeeding. Some motorists insist that the speed limit should be increased. They pay for the NLE, but why can’t they travel fast? Tony says, "If all vehicles were world class, we can set the speed limit to 160 kph, but how can we when there are old vehicles and jeepneys using the expressway?"

Tollways Management Corporation’s operating themes include driver education. You’ll be surprised, said Benjie, at how many drivers do not know rules and regulations. That’s why the expressway has plenty of road signs and lane markings, a motorists’ handbook, and emphasizes the cooperation of trimedia, and drivers’ seminars.

Jose de Jesus said the tollways serve "as a major growth catalyst for Central and North Luzon. We’d like as many people as possible to see the road. We’re organizing efforts to call attention and highlight little-known tourist destinations aside from Clark and Subic."

He ticked off some benefits provided by the new road. Industries along the countryside are made more accessible; travel to Singapore and Indonesia via Clark becomes attractive, and the travel time from Manila to points in Central Luzon has been drastically cut short. "Before, the poor condition of the expressway took so much time," he said, and added, "This tollway is an intelligent tollway, a caring tollway."

MNTC experienced management crisis upon opening NLE because of its rates - from P42 to P210 for the 84-kilometer stretch. But the intelligence of the tollway – faster travel time, excellent roads, safety measures - is now beginning to be fully understood by motorists.

For over three decades, the expressway was marked by potholes, narrow lanes and consequently, heavy traffic. Remember the long, tedious hours we spent just to be able to get out of the tollgates in Balintawak? Wow, didn’t you just hate that part of the trip back from a nice holiday in Vigan or Baguio? If the new NLE had not been expanded, you could imagine how horrendous the projected 2015 traffic volume would be, with average travel speeds (even at non-peak hours) at 16 kilometers per hour.

Fortunately, someone had to take on the challenge to rebuild the NLE. The Lopez Group ventured into road infrastructure to improve and upgrade the expressway. The government would not have been able to do the job, lacking as it does the resources to finance such a massive development. For example, for 2004, government set aside P864.8 billion for fiscal responsibilities Out of this, only P52.9 billion or roughly 6 percent will go to infrastructure. And of this, only P23.7 billion or 3 percent would go to the construction, paving and improvement of roads, bridges and flyovers.

The Lopez Group – through First Philippine Infrastructure Development Corporation (FPIDC) — partnered with the Philippine Government through the Philippine National Construction Corporation (PNCC). PNCC’s franchise allows it to enter into joint venture schemes and choose its partners without the need for public bidding.

The joint venture created the Manila North Tollways Corporation (MNTC), which was mandated to finance, rehabilitate, operate and maintain the NLE for the next 30 years. MNTC also invited partners, including Egis Projects of France, Leighton Asia Limited of Australia, and PNCC. Investments of the partners, through a combination of equity (32 percent) and debt financing (68 percent), amount to P18 billion.

Oscar Lopez, the man at the helm of the Lopez Group, summarizes the great potential of NLE. He is shown in a video presentation saying, "The NLE propels the country to progress and success. The road to success starts with the expressway."

[ryanr]

Wow, thats awesome. Nice article.

For anyone interested, you can see NLEX (in high resolution) in Google Earth
Although i think they took that satellite shot a few years ago. The northern part of NLEX is not yet finished in their shot.

[Solblanc]

of google earth? in google, of course!

EDIT... that's strange... I was replying to thomasian, and my post came before his... cool!

[thomasian]

Where's the link

[stephencua]

found this in an editorial from abscbnnews.com.. i didnt include the other portions.. ehhe..

Now some good news for a change. Thanks to rehab work that has turned North Luzon Expressway into a world-class toll way, many travel destinations in Central Luzon and other points north of Manila are beginning to show the makings of a boom.

Tourist spots in the provinces of Pampanga, Zambales, Pangasinan and La Union have upgraded their service amenities for visitors who have begun to experience the pleasure of land travel on the improved road networks through Central Luzon and the Ilocos. More and more foreigners—notably Taiwanese, Mainland Chinese and South Koreans—are frequenting the beach resorts and other tourist spots in the two regions. Domestic tourists too are reportedly flocking to those spots in growing numbers.

The Mount Pinatubo Wellness spa, which a recent visitor describes as "a fascinating oasis amid a picturesque pastoral environment among rolling hills and mountain ranges," is a recent offering in health tourism.

With the cost of international travel reaching prohibitive levels, thanks to skyrocketing fuel costs and deteriorating foreign-exchange rates, domestic tourism is on the rebound. Nowhere has this welcome development been more evident than in the provinces served by the North Luzon Expressway.

[dudz]

there's something new in nlex...plants in the center.

[kiretoce]

Are those concrete blocks permanent?

[marites4]

thxns for the fotos duds. That's nice plants at NLEx . It just shows how lush and green the PHils. is.

[Francis20]

Wowow! i never knew there are hidden cams sa NLEX. Travel is really a breeze pag galing ka sa north. Parang nattravel ko yata ang very start ng NLEX pag galing ako ng Pangasinan. I was there last weekend. Medyo nag wonder ako why the bus seemed to have slowed down when it touched NLEX. I was also wondering why the car ahead of us seems not to be getting any way farther. so malamang kako same lang ang speed. tas nakita ko sa side ng kalsada nakalagay 100 kph. yun pala yun. i tried to count the speed of the bus thru stopwatch at yung mga km posts sa daan. i counted 90 kph. a reasonable speed naman to travel the whole length in less than an hour.

[ryanr]

yes, nice plants on the centre median. But remove the concrete blocks, please!

[bustero]

totoo iyan, I've found myself travelling slower in the new nlex, because the speed is constant so no spurts of 120 140, you can easily maintain 100 , that way tipid pa when you cruise in OD. Can you imagine this kind of infrastructure all over the country,wow, productivity will go up substantially.

[marites4]

I'd like Edsa to be like that someday. Travel time will surely decrease. It should be a priority why can't the govt. see that.

[ryanr]

sounds like you drove in the autobahn plus the speed limits (because i've read and heard that there are no speed limits in most parts of the autobahn)

[ryanr]

Originally Posted by marites4

I'd like Edsa to be like that someday. Travel time will surely decrease. It should be a priority why can't the govt. see that.

Exactly...if EDSA is dramatically improved, productivity would skyrocket.

[marites4]

Just imagine the tourists, ofw and balikbayans they mostly traverse Edsa to and from the airport. Imagine what a great relief it would be for them to breeze through it and reach their destination in minutes instead of hours.

[olineil]

Originally Posted by GreyX

sounds like you drove in the autobahn plus the speed limits (because i've read and heard that there are no speed limits in most parts of the autobahn)

Actually there is a speed limit in Autobahn, but it says dont go Below 60Kph or something. So the top speed is whatever your car can churn out.