CITY OF MEYCAUAYAN, Bulacan — NLEX Corporation has started the widening of the Meycauayan northbound exit from two to three lanes.

The tollway company in collaboration with the local government unit of Meycauayan will also construct new northbound exit at F. Raymundo in Barangay Pandayan as part of the Meycauayan decongestion project.

Set to be completed before Christmas, the two works aim to ease the recurrent traffic build up in NLEX Meycauayan due to high volume of vehicles queuing at its exit.

The widening of the Meycauayan exit ramp, once completed, will expand its capacity and ease traffic especially for those bound to Iba/Camalig Road.

To complement the expansion, NLEX also started the construction of the new F. Raymundo Exit which will serve as an alternate and additional route that is aimed at “bypassing” the Meycauayan Interchange and the busy Iba/Camalig Road.

NLEX Corporation president J. Luigi L. Bautista explained that during the construction period, minimal lane closures will be implemented at the latter stage of the project and said, “We would like to assure our motorists that traffic management and safety measures will be in place to ensure motorists’ safety and minimize travel delays. Road signs and other warning devices will also be installed to guide motorists.”

“We are optimistic that once these additional infrastructure solutions are in place, our motorists will experience smoother traffic flow in the area especially during peak hours,” Bautista added.

On the other hand, Meycauayan City Mayor Henry Villarica said, “We are glad that we have NLEX as our partner in alleviating the traffic caused by the increasing volume of vehicles coming to and from our city. We assure the public that the City of Meycauayan and NLEX Corporation will continuously work together in exploring long-term infrastructure solutions to help solve the traffic demand of the city.”

In a traffic mobility and decongestion study commissioned by NLEX in July 2023, it showed that the rapid economic growth in the city brings high demand for traffic. The expansion of the northbound exit ramp and construction of the new F. Raymundo exit were some of the traffic solutions that can help provide immediate relief in the congestion in NLEX Meycauayan.

It will be recalled that NLEX, in partnership with the LGU, Department of Public Works and Highways, and Department of Transportation, have already done various projects to help decongest the traffic inside and outside the expressway in the Meycauayan area. In 2017, NLEX opened the Libtong and Pandayan Exits and expanded the southbound toll plaza to address traffic buildup at the interchange. While in 2021, a portion of NLEX right-of-way was used to open the two-lane Meycauayan East Service Road connecting Libtong in Meycauayan City and Lawang Bato in Valenzuela City which was then extended to Marilao in 2022, providing alternative routes going in and out of Valenzuela, Meycauayan and Marilao and helped ease traffic in the said areas.

NLEX Corporation is a subsidiary of the Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC), the toll road arm of the Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC).

Photo: NLEX Corp.