By Tonette Orejas, Inquirer News
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—The North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) Corp. has put on hold its 33-ton weight limit on vehicles and the use of alternate routes in provinces during the rehabilitation of the south viaduct of the expressway that is expected to be finished in 2024.
Jennifer Jane Go, NLEx Corp. vice president for asset management, said they decided to defer the weight restriction and traffic diversion plan supposed to begin last week following a request from Pampanga Gov. Dennis Pineda.
“We will continue with the status quo as agreed,” she told reporters at the end of a consultation with stakeholders here on Friday.
Pineda asked NLEx Corp. officials not to implement as yet the load limit and the plan to divert to Pampanga and nearby provinces the cargo trucks and other vehicles using NLEx since the rehabilitation of the south viaduct was already completed in 2019.
Go, however, noted that even as they agreed to hold the traffic diversion and load limit plans, the 5.3-kilometer south lane of the expressway was already showing “severe” signs of distress as early as August 2020. More girdles of the 38-year-old south lane showed damaged last June, she reported in the consultation.
Aging
Built in the 1960s, the 101.8-km NLEx from Balintawak in Caloocan City to Sta. Ines in Mabalacat town of Pampanga connects Metro Manila to central and northern Luzon provinces. The north and south viaducts were built over the Candaba Swamp, which is flooded half of the year.
In a statement on Saturday, the NLEx Corp. also stressed the urgency of diverting heavy loads away from the south viaduct, adding that it was “deeply concerned with the continuous damage as assessed by technical professionals and engineering experts, especially the longer we wait.”
“Our first priority is public safety and the long-term serviceability of the viaduct,” it said. “Given the urgency of the matter, the rerouting of heavy trucks should be done immediately so the damage can be minimized and repairs can be fully undertaken.”
Protect the roads
But Pineda said enforcing the route diversion plan would not only mean additional costs for cargo trucks transporting food and other commodities between Metro Manila and the provinces that could result in increase in prices, but could also damage local roads and bridges.
“Pampanga cannot handle the additional traffic. We also have to protect the roads,” he added.
Inland Haulers and Truckers Association chair Teodorico Gervacio also said haulers from the provinces transporting goods to Metro Manila could charge an additional P38,000 per trip when they use a longer route of about 120 km instead of the usual 85 km via NLEx. Business leaders estimated this could result in a 65-percent rise in operation costs.“We have to elevate to national agencies such concerns as determining the appropriate weight limit, identifying the routes and setting the cost of commodities. These have to be policies. We cannot be dealing with these matters all on our own,” the governor said.
Pineda and Go said they expected to meet soon with officials of the Departments of Public Works and Highways, Transportation, Interior and Local Government, and Trade and Industry, and other agencies to address these issues.
Pineda gave assurances that the provincial government has been regulating against the overloading of trucks that haul sand and gravel from Pampanga.
Leaders of quarry groups also said haulers avoid the NLEx and prefer to pass through the Manila North Road (MacArthur Highway).
MAIN PHOTO: The ongoing safety upgrade at the southbound lane of the Candaba Viaduct of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx), in this photo taken on Saturday, is the reason why rerouting is a must, said the NLEx Corp. Photo courtesy of NLEX CORP.
