R8 - North Luzón Expressway

[Edmundtanso]

yeah..it was very bad back then, like year 1999 to 2000. based from the photos, looks like they are well paved now, even edsa looks well paved with painted dividing lanes =)

[ryanr]

Any new updates on the improvement of NLEX. Phase III will be finished by the end of the year, right?

[mysaong03]

actually, its a bit wonderful to note how most of u in this forum become very well updated with the latest infra projects even if ur presently staying abroad, in fact, most of my kababayans here dont realy care so much about it, & u know why.... i guess our country has realy gone too far in politicizing everything.... oh well.... nway, speaking of NLEX, as far as iv read on the news, the 2nd & 3rd phases are stil about to start, as u all know, even the 1st phase's construction started only last yr w/c is alrdy very late of the target date. & 1 primary reason 4 all this is: settling the right of way problems, specialy on the 2nd & 3rd phase, where the consortium who was tasked to build them were stil having an extremely difficult time dealing w/ the settlers & landowners affected.... hay, ganyan talaga d2... plus not to mention the very rampant red tape-u know....securing lots of unnecessary signature approvals from diff. govt agencies (THE HECK???!!!) & finally, may funding problem pa rin coz as the peso continues to depreciate, the construction expenses continues to rise naman & not until they can finaly agree as to when the construction of the remaining phases shal commence, im afraid they'll end up just talking bout numbers, & worse, shelve the whole project, just like what hapend to skyway. but all is not lost, i think w/ d level of confidence the foreign investors & CREDITORS have w/ gloria & her technocrats, then our dream of having world class roads in MM will now materialize.....k!

[Edmundtanso]

mysaong03
thanks for sharing that update. i agree with you, i hope GMA would get reelected and hopefully the economy would get better and more infrastructure projects on the way!

[absent-minded]

hahaha... you should see how deep the waters they have to wade in Vancouver are. they just shelved a new Skytrain/LRT/MRT proposal because it was turned down by the public through a vote that was held the other night! I mean, how bad can a project like that be??? the province owned bus system here is total CRAP! if you say Manila's Bus and Jeep transpo services suck, you should see how bad it is here. it takes nearly 2 hours to go somewhere less than 6km away!! with no traffic!!!

anyway, enough of that... the 2nd and 3rd phases of the NLEX sound good. it should add another 77km (?) to it... strengthens the Mega Manila project even more. maybe it's just me (or the elections), but all our infra projects seem to be going at a faster rate now. just hope that it gets past the votes and that GMA can continue pushing through with the creation and upgrading of these vital facilities. we are slowly but surely catching up to Thailand and Malaysia... I want to see some more big infra projects in the Mindanao/Viasayas areas though...

[ryanr]

Thanks for the update, mysaong. Isnt it confirmed that it will be all finished by the end of this year?

[renell]

from what i've read, it is. but there is still a lot to be done. none of the interchanges i've passed by (Balintawak-San Fernando) have none of the new exits and entrances fully operational. there still seems a lot to be done. i say same month next year all will be done. i added 4 months there given the time Filipinos work, and how our government works.

[absent-minded]

Travel on North Luzon Expressway improves
Posted: 11:20 PM (Manila Time) | Apr. 21, 2004
Inquirer News Service


Easy riders

MOTORISTS using the North Luzon Expressway will notice that it takes less time now to travel from Balintawak to Sta. Ines, Pampanga, a good 84-kilometer stretch. Gone, too, are the bumps and potholes.

At the rate work is progressing, we can look forward to the early completion of the project. Developers predict that, by July, the main line roadwork between Balintawak and Sta. Ines would be opened to the public.

And they foresee that the entire project would be completed in 4-5 months, ahead of the February 2005 schedule. The developers add they use only high-quality asphalt for the pavement.

Renato Banares, senior vice president for program management of the Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC) says:

"Now in use are 336 out of the total 433 km main thoroughfare. Rehabilitation and expansion of this 30-year-old obsolete highway includes construction of new interchanges, flyovers and toll plazas... MNTC will (also) provide modern amenities... such as electronic message signboards, emergency call boxes, fiber optic communications and specialized cameras. With the completion of the project, the obsolete thoroughfare will have the best toll road system in the country."

Agencies in charge of the NLEX development are the Philippine National Construction Corporation, Leighton Contractors, MNTC, Toll Regulatory Board and Department of Public Works and Highways.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
great news for NLEX!! the completion of phase I's rehab should kick off the construction of the final legs of the tollway. mysaong03 was right. the second and third phases should add up about 22km and 57km respectively for a total of around 79 new kilometres summing up with the existing phase I for a total of around 163km. wow...! wonder how long the rest will take. at least they were able to fast track the rehab of phase I... hehehe...

[renell]

hm.. sounds good eh? but the other side of the story is that toll fees will go sky high. but i guess that's the price of world-class roads

[SKYLINEPIGEON]

At Least Theres Some Improvement We Can See Nowadays, One Year Ago Travelling In Nlex Was Horrible

[renell]

well for us it's easy to say, but for local folks it's gonna be damn expensive. i heard the prices will rise 200%

[ryanr]

Sweet...i just love this quote "Gone, too, are the bumps and potholes"

84km is quite long actually. Much better than a few years ago. See, NLEX is slowly making its way through northern Luzon. And there will be an additional kilometers of highway as Subic-Clark highway is currently u/c.

I bet as our country progresses (as slowly as that my be) projects like these will take place faster.

[ryanr]

Now for some not so good news....

P20-B Subic-Clark-Tarlac road project construction hits a snag
By BERNIE CAHILES-MAGKILAT

Construction of the R20 billion SubicClark-Tarlac Expressway Project (SCTEP) has been delayed for about a month now as the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) is still negotiating with the most qualified bidder to lower its cost to meet the budgetary allocation for the project.


BCDA president and chief executive officer Rufo Colayco said the budget allocation for the Clark-Tarlac was only R8 billion while the Clark-Subic portion costs R12 billion for a total of P20 billion financing from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).

“We have to reduce the cost without compromising the functionality of the road and the government not shelling out additional counterpart funds,” Colayco said. The government has 15 percent counterpart financing while JBIC extended $374 million or 85 percent of the entire financing.

Colayco said the consortium of MTI, Hazama-Taisei-Nippon (Hazama Corp, Taisei Corp. and Nippon Steel Corp.) for the Subic-Clark portion (Package 2) offered the lowest bid of P11 billion among three bidders. But the amount was 40 percent higher than the budgetary allocation from the JBIC loan.

This means the government has to shell additional counterpart fund for the project if the winning consortium’s cost estimates will be followed.

“We are negotiating with the lowest bidder to lower its cost,” Colayco said noting that construction for Package 1 was supposed to kick off last March 30. He was, however, optimistic the Japanese consortium will give in to their request.

Colayco also admitted that their budget allocation was already overtaken by events leading to the increased prices of construction materials like cement, steel and asphalt because of the strong demand from China. This was also compounded by the peso depreciation against the dollar.

Downgrading the cost of the project would mean sacrificing the strength of the expressway or reduction of some structures in the original plan.

On the other hand, Colayco said, the JBIC guidelines for projects it funded are very strict.

“The JBIC guidelines are very strict. JBIC does not compromise the functionality of the road and we are also adamant to that,” he said.

The MTI-Hazama-Taisei-Nippon consortium has not yet been declared a winning bidder for Package 2 but has been recognized as a qualified contractor after beating two other bidders MTI (Maeda Corp., Toyo Construction Co. Ltd. and IshikawaHarima Heavy Industries Co. Ltd.) and the consortium of KOJM (Kajima Corp., Obayashi Corp., JFE Engineering Corp. and Mitsubsishi Heavy Industries Ltd.)

[ryanr]

more...

BCDA effort to lower P11-B bid delays Subic-Clark-Tarlac expressway project
By Marianne V. Go
The Philippine Star 04/23/2004

The construction of the first phase of the P18.74-billion Subic-Clark-Tarlac expressway project (SCTEP) has been delayed by efforts of the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) to lower the P11-billion bid price submitted by Japanese contractor Hazama-Taisei-Nippon Steel Group.

The first phase of the SCTEP comprises of 44-kilometer, four-lane superhighway that would connect Clark to Tarlac.

Construction was originally scheduled to begin last February or early March, with completion targeted by 2006.

The Hazama-Taisei-Nippon Group had submitted the lowest bid out of the three pre-qualified Japanese joint venture bidders. The two other bidders were the MTI group and the KOJM join venture.

The Hazama-Taisei-Nippon joint venture is made up of Hazama Corp. Taisei Corp. and Nippon Steel Corp.

The Philippine government received an overseas development assistance (ODA) loan from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) amounting to ¥41.931 million, which represents 85 percent of the total package cost of the 94.5-km tollway. The remaining 15 percent will have to be counterfunded by the BCDA.

According to BCDA president and chief executive officer Rufo Colayco, they are still trying to negotiate with the Hazama-Taisei-Nippon group to bring down its bid price to match the P8-billion budget allocated for the first phase of the SCTEP.

"We’re still negotiating, but we’re getting there," Colayco said.

Colayco acknowledged construction cost that has been affected by the construction boom in China.

China’s demand for steel, cement, asphalt and other construction materials has had a global impact, raising the cost of such materials.

Hence, Colayco cannot yet definitely say when construction of the first phase of the SCTEP would begin.

Once the SCTEP is completed, travel time between Subic and Clark and be shortened to 30 minutes compared to the present two-hour drive.

[renell]

well this is not surprising news. the government does not have a lot of money, so they will delay it for a couple of months just to get a better price for it's projects

[Edmundtanso]

hmm...i hope the project would push tru though and hope they stick with the original plans, they should think of the long run effect!

[renell]

well if you think in the government's side, a short delay in the beginning would be better than a NAIA3-type delay. just like a road rehabilitation project, it would be problems at first, but everyone would benefit from it in the end

[absent-minded]

yeah... I agree with Renell's last post... I hate what's gone wrong with NAIA 3.

anyway, even if they're able to haggle the price down to somewhere closer to P8B, there's always the JBIC's regulations and standards that will hopefully be able to control the quality of the project - even if it has to be delayed. I'm optimistic they'll kick the porject of by early may or at least june...

[renell]

i still haven't heard any news whether this expressway will connect to NLEX. im hoping it will, for the expressways in the country need to start becoming more complex.

[ryanr]

Well NAIA 3 was a different story. It was built by the private sector supported by the government. These highways however, are mainly developed the government. So yes it is more or less "ok" that they delay the project to seek the best bid. And afterwards, they are sure to get the project rolling in good pace unlike NAIA 3