NLEx opens more toll lanes

The operator of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) and Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) will open additional toll lanes to accommodate the expected increase in traffic volume for the observance of All Saints’ Day on Nov. 1.

Extra lanes and ambulant toll collection booths will be set up in NLEx toll plazas on Mindanao Avenue, Bocaue (Bulacan) and Dau (Pampanga) when traffic builds up there, especially along the northbound lane, said Francisco Dagohoy, communications specialist of Tollways Management Corp. (TMC), the NLEx operator.

TMC is also deploying portable toll collection units in congested areas of NLEx and SCTEx.

“We have put up spare lanes in areas which are usually congested during holidays. We will open [the lanes] on Friday (Oct. 30) once the toll booths are unable to accommodate traffic,” Dagohoy said.

Advance toll collection will also be implemented on Friday and Saturday at the Mabalacat interchange, which connects the two expressways.

At the NLEx southbound lanes, spare lanes will be set up on Saturday in Mabalacat and Bocaue to accommodate the surge of vehicles returning to Metro Manila by Sunday afternoon, Dagohoy said.

TMC projects a 10- to 15-percent increase in traffic volume along the northbound lanes from Friday to Sunday, from its daily average of 190,000 vehicles in NLEx and 35,000 motorists in SCTEx. -Ron Lopez