North Luzon Expressway
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The North Luzon Expressway (NLE or NLEx), also called North Diversion Road, is a limited-access toll expressway that connects Metro Manila to the provinces of the Central Luzon region in the Philippines. It is one of the two branches of the R-8 major radial road of Metro Manila (Quirino Highway is the other).
The expressway begins in Quezon City at a cloverleaf interchange with EDSA: a logical continuation of Andres Bonifacio Avenue. It then passes through Quezon City, Caloocan City, and Valenzuela City in Metro Manila. Meycauayan, Marilao, Bocaue, Balagtas, Guiguinto, Plaridel, and Pulilan in Bulacan. San Simon, San Fernando, Mexico and Angeles City in Pampanga. The expressway currently ends at Mabalacat and merges with the MacArthur Highway, which continues northward into the rest of Central and Northern Luzon.
A planned spur route from the San Simon interchange connecting to the existing Subic-Tipo Highway has been temporarily postponed, because of the on-going construction of an interconnection between the North Luzon Expressway and the Subic-Clark Expressway, the latter serving as a direct link between Subic and Clark. The interconnection is located at least 3 km north of Sta. Ines Exit.
The expressway, including Andres Bonifacio Avenue, has total length of 88 kilometers. The expressway segment has a length of 84 kilometres. It is currently being extended by 44 kilometers, starting from its current end in Mabalacat, Pampanga up to Tarlac City in Tarlac. Its extension is part of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway Project. It may be extented up to Laoag City in Ilocos Norte and there are plans to have a spur route going to Baguio City to provide motorists going to the summer capital a fast and safe journey. The extension passes through (in the future) Rest of Tarlac City, Gerona, Paniqui, and Camiling in Tarlac, Bayambang, Basista, Malasiqui, Villasis, Urdaneta City, Binalonan, Pozzorubio, and Sison in Pangasinan, Rosario in La Union, and Tuba, and Baguio City in Benguet.
Originally controlled by the Philippine National Construction Corporation or PNCC, operation and maintenance of the NLEx was transferred in 2005 to the Manila North Tollways Corporation, a subsidiary of the Lopez Group of Companies. A major upgrade and rehabilitation has been completed in February 2005 and the road has now similar qualities as a modern French tollway. The main contractor of the rehabilitation work was Leighton Contractors Pty. Ltd (Australia) with Egis Projects, a company belonging to the French Groupe Egis as the main subcontractor for the toll, telecommunication and traffic management systems. To help maintain the safety and quality of the expressway, various rules are in effect, such as restricting the left lane to passing vehicles only and banning overloaded trucks.
The tollway has two sections: an open section and a closed section. The open section (within Metro Manila) charges a flat toll based on vehicle class and is employed to reduce the number of toll barriers (and associated bottlenecks) within the metropolis. The closed section is distance-based, charging based on the class of vehicle and distance traveled. Class 1 vehicles can use an electronic toll collection system (called EC Tag) to reduce wait times and congestion at toll barriers. A prepaid magnetic card (the NLE Badge) is provided as an alternative payment for class 2 and 3 vehicles. Both systems connect to accounts that can be replenished in various ways. Travelers not using EC Tag or the NLE Badge on the closed system will instead be issued tickets describing tolls for the various exits. In order to save costs concerning toll barriers at exits, many exits on the NLEx are parclo interchanges, having exit and entrance ramps running alongside each other so that both may be serviced with a single toll barrier.
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[edit] Technical specifications
- Name: North Luzon Expressway
- Concession holder: Manila North Tollways Corporation
- Operator: Tollways Management Corporation
- Length: 88 km (being extended by 44 km)
- Concession starting date: February 2005
- Concession ending date: February 2029
- Highway exits: 15
- Toll plazas: 14
- Rest and Service Areas: 7
- Minimum Height Clearance on Underpasses: 4.27m (14')
[edit] Tolls
| Class | Open System (Balintawak-Bocaue) |
Closed System (Tabang-Sta.Ines) |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 (Cars, Motorcycles, SUVs, Jeepneys) |
PhP 38 | PhP 2.20/km |
| Class 2 (Buses, Light Trucks) |
PhP 94 | PhP 5.49/km |
| Class 3 (Heavy Trucks) |
PhP 113 | PhP 6.59/km |
[edit] Features
- Variable Message Signs displaying real-time traffic situations
- Emergency Telephones(every 2 km in the Balintawak-Burol segment, every 1 km in the Burol-Sta. Ines segment)
- Rest and Service Areas (privately owned and operated)
- CCTV
- Car Density Sensors underneath road surface
- Hidden Speed Guns
- Electronic Toll Payment (class 1), Prepaid Account Cards (class 2/3)
- Much of the expressway has been built to U.S. Interstate highway standards, featuring eight lanes through Metro Manila. As it enters the more rural area north of Manila, the expressway narrows to 6 and then 4 lanes with a grass median to separate the two carriageways.
- All signage is in English, and are nearly identical to the "big green signs" (BGS) on American expressway, including white lettering on a green background, with the exit tab in the upper-right corner (distance signs even employ a font similar--if not identical--to the Caltrans font; all other signs employ a different font).
- Like expressways in most American states, the NLEx uses a distance-based sequencing for numbering interchanges. Being a metric country, though, the system is kilometer-log rather than mile-log--exits are numbered according to the distance (in kilometers) from the start of the expressway.
[edit] Speed Limit
80 km/h near Metro Manila, 100 km/h in rural areas, but 120 km/h is permitted. Speed limits are strictly enforced via CCTV cameras, and speeders are usually identified as soon as they hit the tollbooth. However, this hasn't stopped the road from being a popular spot for people to test high end sports cars. The highest recorded speed on the NLEx is 320 kph by a modified Nissan Skyline GT-R[1].
[edit] Lanes
8 Lanes(4 lanes both directions) - Balintawak-Burol segment
6 Lanes(3 lanes both directions) - Burol-Sta. Rita segment
4 Lanes(2 lanes both directions) - Tabang Spur, Sta. Rita-Sta.Ines segment
[edit] List of exits
Exit numbers are based on kilometer post. Exits begin at 9 because the NLEx is a logical continuation of Andres Bonifacio Avenue. Malacanang Palace is designated as Kilometer 0.
Exit 9 - Balintawak Exit - EDSA - Quezon City
- Southbound traffic defaults onto Andres Bonifacio Avenue. Going right is going to Manila, Navotas, and Malabon and going left is going to Quezon City proper, Marikina City, and Rizal province.
Kilometer 11 (Northbound) - Balintawak Toll Barrier - Caloocan City
- Proceeding northbound, you pay the open system toll at this barrier. If you exit on or before Bocaue Exit, you will encounter no further barriers. Beyond, you enter the closed system and will pay the closed system's toll at the toll barrier for your exit.
- There is a runaway truck ramp next to the toll barrier.
Exit 15 - Valenzuela Exit - Paso de Blas, Valenzuela City
- The former name of this exit is Malinta Exit.
Kilometer 16 (Southbound) - Caltex Service Area
Exit 18 - Lawang Bato Exit - Lawang Bato, Ever Gardens Memorial Park, Valenzuela City
- This is only a temporary exit. This will be replaced by the U/C Canumay Exit.
Exit 20 - Meycauayan Exit - Meycauayan City, Bulacan
Kilometer 22 (Northbound) - Petron Service Area
Exit 23 - Marilao Exit - Marilao, Bulacan
Kilometer 26 (Southbound) - Bocaue Toll Barrier
- Proceeding southbound, you pay the toll for both the closed and open system at this barrier, making this is the last toll barrier you encounter southbound, regardless of where you exit beyond this point.
Exit 27 - Bocaue Exit - Bocaue, Bulacan
- This is the last exit on the open system. The closed system begins north of here.
Kilometer 29 (Southbound) - Petron Service Area
Kilometer 32 (Northbound) - Shell Service Area
Kilometer 32 - Tabang Exit - Burol, Balagtas, Bulacan
- This exit is only for vehicles coming from Manila. There is no access ramp from the southbound lane on this exit.
Kilometer 36 (Tabang Exit) - Tabang Toll Barrier
Exit 38 - Sta. Rita Exit - Sta. Rita, Guiguinto, Bulacan
Exit 45 - Pulilan Exit - Pulilan, Bulacan
- Between here and the Total Service Area is the Candaba Viaduct, a 5-km long trestle over the Candaba swamps.
Kilometer 55 (Northbound) - Total Service Area
Exit 57 - San Simon Exit - San Simon, Pampanga
Kilometer 62 (Southbound) - Caltex Service Area
Exit 65 - San Fernando Exit - San Fernando City, Pampanga
- This exits to the Olongapo-Gapan road. Olongapo is to the west, Gapan to the east.
- Noteworthy are SM City Pampanga and Robinson Starmills Pampanga--both immediately east of the exit and visible from the expressway.
Kilometer 72 (Northbound) - Petron Service Area
Exit 72 - Mexico Exit - Mexico, Pampanga; Lakeshore Estates
Kilometer 76 (Southbound) - Shell Service Area
Exit 80 - Angeles Exit - Angeles City, Pampanga
Kilometer 82 - Dau Toll Barrier
Exit 83 - Dau Exit - Dau, Mabalacat, Pampanga
Exit 88 - Sta. Ines Exit - Sta. Ines, Mabalacat
[edit] Future Exits
- Except for NLE-C5 & NLE-C6 Interchanges, these exits are all underconstruction as of today
Exit 13 - NLE-C5 Interchange - C5 Road
Exit 18 - Canumay Exit - Lingunan; Lawang Bato, Valenzuela City
NLE-C6 Interchange - Metro Manila Tollway
Exit 84 - Clark-DMIA Spur Road - Clark Special Economic Zone, Diosdado Macapagal International Airport, Subic Bay Freeport Zone
Exit 91 - Subic-Clark Expressway-NLE Interchange - Subic-Clark Expressway, Subic Bay Freeport Zone and the provinces of Bataan and Zambales
- This exit is only for those vehicles coming from the northern provinces of Luzon. The is no access ramp from the northbound lane on this exit.
Concepcion Exit - Concepcion, Tarlac
San Miguel Exit - San Miguel, Tarlac City
Tarlac Exit - Luisita Industrial Park, Hacienda Luisita, Tarlac City, Tarlac
[edit] Other Information
- The expressway is the longest and most modern expressway in the Philippines
- The expressway was featured in the music video to the song "Toll Gate" by the band Hale
- The expressway is the first expressway in Southeast Asia, built and completed during the late 1960s [2]
[edit] Drainage Enhancement Program
The entire expressway is undergoing another rehabilitation regarding its drainage systems. The rehabilitation is expected to be finished before the rainy season in June sets in. It is expected to prevent flooding in certain areas of the expressway especially within the limits of Caloocan City and Valenzuela City. During the works, two lanes will be closed in the morning in those areas with 8 lanes and one outer lane during the evening. The works are not also done all at once, although it is done on both directions. Every 2 kms. will be closed and when it is done, the next 2 kms. will be closed.
The project is not without criticism; to those traveling the road almost daily, it is a big question why it only happened when the initial rehabilitation is finished a year ago. The asphalt must be destroyed again and replaced to put the new drainage. It is also causing traffic jams in certain parts of the road.
[edit] Images
 NLEX Patrol Car |
NLEX Emergency boxes |
NLEX Safety Features |
NLEX At Night |
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NLEX Tollgate Topview |
NLEX Tollgate |
