ALL three lanes in both directions of the San Simon Interchange and Tulaoc section of the North Luzon Expressway (Nlex) reopened to all vehicle types at 8:50 a.m. on Tuesday, ending more than a week of flood-driven closures that had made the expressway’s Pampanga corridor a chokepoint.
With the lanes restored, the toll rebate granted to motorists on the San Fernando-Pulilan stretch was lifted at 12:01 p.m. on Wednesday, North Luzon Expressway Corp. Said in a statement.
The temporary toll exemption for provincial buses stays in force, however.
The reopening followed what the tollway operator described as ‘sustained flood mitigation and clearing work’ undertaken with its government and private sector partners.
‘These efforts helped restore all lanes in the affected sections, allowing the resumption of normal traffic operations,’ the company said.
Nlex said it is continuing flood mitigation measures at the site, including the dredging of the Tulaoc River and clearing and improvement works along the Nlex embankment, to improve water flow and help temper flooding in the area.
The rebate now being withdrawn was put in place at the direction of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) while flooding persisted. It took effect at noon on September 2 and covered both northbound and southbound passages on the San Fernando-Pulilan stretch, with credits applied to a motorist’s radio frequency identification (Rfid) account the day after the toll passage. Regular toll on the Pulilan-San Fernando route is P113 for Class 1 vehicles, P281 for Class 2 and P338 for Class 3.
The closures traced back to days of habagat, or southwest monsoon, rains that pushed the Pampanga and Tulaoc rivers over their banks, sending water onto Nlex and the parallel McArthur Highway and overwhelming the area’s ability to discharge it. Traffic backed up worst at the Tulaoc Bridge in San Simon, with the southbound queue stretching close to eight kilometers at its peak on September 1.
Earlier Public Works Secretary Vivencio Dizon laid out a three-part fix for the section: Blocking the inflows feeding the expressway and inspecting breaches along the Pampanga River, deepening the trench beside Nlex with the operator’s help to increase its holding capacity, and installing pumps to move water off the highway and out to the waterway.
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has also been deploying sand-filled flood barriers sourced from Italy to replace the sandbags stacked along the section.
Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC), which owns and operates Nlex, has separately committed to raise the northbound and southbound pavements at Tulaoc once the elevation of the Tulaoc Bridge is finished, a step it has framed as the permanent answer to recurring flooding on the San Simon segment.
Nlex said it will keep working with its government and private sector partners to help ensure the safety and accessibility of motorists and to support flood mitigation efforts in the area and in affected communities.