A seamless Luzon Urban Beltway

Written by Mia M. Gonzalez / Reporter

Wednesday, 25 February 2009 22:06

MANY people are impressed by how the Nlex has encouraged traffic to Northern Luzon, and the President hopes to see similar results elsewhere in Luzon. CLARK FREE PORT—President Arroyo has ordered concerned government agencies to work on turning the Luzon Urban Beltway (LUB) into a “seamless, investment haven” to attract more business to the area. “Let us develop the Luzon Urban Beltway into a seamless priority infrastructure project,” the President said at the Cabinet meeting held at the Holiday Inn Resort Hotel here. A Palace statement said that by seamless, the President wants to link South Luzon as far as Batangas to Northern Luzon through the Star Tollways system-South Luzon Expressway-Slex-C5-Nlex unbroken expressway route. The President directed various heads of government agencies and concerned government-owned and -controlled corporations and government financial institutions to fast-track the completion of priority infrastructure projects in the beltway by the end of her term. Deputy Presidential Spokesman Lorelei Fajardo said 13 LUB projects worth a total of P39.34 billion, excluding the cost of upgraded hospitals, were completed as of 2008, and that there are 17 other ongoing projects with a total cost of P140.7 billion. The completed projects are the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway Project (SCTEX), Panday Pira Access Road, DMIA Terminal Radar Approach Control, DMIA Passenger Terminal Expansion, Subic Bay Port Development, Southern Tagalog Arterial Road, Batangas Port Development Project 2, Lucena Port Terminal, Kawit Port, Marinduque Port, Edsa Rehabilitation and the Naia Terminal 3. Among the ongoing projects are the C5 North Link Project, Tarlac-Nueva Ecija-Aurora-Dingalan Road, Marikina-Infanta Road Project, South Luzon Expressway Expansion Project, Manila-Cavite Toll Expressway Project, Clark South Interchange, Porac Interchange, Floridablanca Interchange, additional access roads, LRT 1 North Edsa Extension and the Northrail Project 1. The other ongoing projects are the PNR Commuter Train, 300 MLD Treated Bulk Water Supply, MWSS Water Projects, Energy Projects, Kamanava Flood Control and Drainage System Improvement Project, and the Immigration Customs Quarantine Project.