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Tag Archives: NLEX
Another look at the Candaba viaduct’s new lanes
I recently wrote about the new lanes along the Candaba viaduct and my thoughts about them being used as variable lanes (i.e., more lanes assigned along the peak or heavier traffic direction). Only this January 2, I observed that the lanes were being used instead for the southbound traffic as the older southbound viaduct appeared to be closed to traffic. Perhaps that side is up for rehabilitation or maintenance work?
The new lanes between the two viaduct structures are now in use.
These are assigned to southbound traffic while the original lanes appear to be closed off.
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New lanes along the NLEX Candaba Viaduct
Heading to Baguio, I noticed the new lanes in the middle of the NLEX viaduct. The viaduct was actually two bridges constructed over the Candaba Swamp. The soil being too soft for a normal road, the viaduct allowed for two way traffic with each bridge carrying northbound or southbound vehicles. The recall that the original bridges each had 2 lanes plus a shoulder lane. Each now have 3 lanes plus shoulder after expansion years ago. The additional lanes in the middle probably required additional columns to be built with more modern foundations than the original viaduct. The new structures had to be integrated with the older viaducts. Here are photos of the completed sections:
You can go to Google Maps if you want to see what the lanes looked like under construction. Here is a screenshot:
Screenshot
The middle lanes look like they can be used as variable lanes. That is, all or some of the lanes may be used to serve the direction with the heavier traffic. The directions can change depending on the time of day, day of the week or the season. I don’t know at this time though how exactly this can or will be implemented as there are no signs to guide motorists for variable lanes. What signs am I referring to? Here are examples from Bangkok showing overhead signs assigning lanes for the direction with heavier traffic:
A close up of the signs designating lanes for traffic
In the example above, 4 lanes including one counterflow lane are assigned to traffic along the southbound direction.
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Shops at the NLEX Petron Lakeshore Station
I think the stop we regularly make whenever we are traveling north whether to Clark or beyond is the Petron Station at Lakeshore. It is not too close to Manila and is just before you transfer to SCTEX. Before, there were few establishments here so fewer people used to stop here. Now there are more but not as crowded as other stops that even have outlet shops.
There are more shops now including those selling local products for souvenirs and fruits.
There are many selling food and drinks for quick meals of travelers.
There are many choices for eating now aside from the established cafes and restaurants like McDonald’s, Razon’s, Bonchon, and Starbucks. One can get supplies from the Petron shop at the station.
There is also a shop selling home decor and tiangge types selling clothes.
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Mt. Arayat – the Lonely Mountain
A trip north will usually bring travelers to see a lonely mountain, actually a volcano, that is Mt. Arayat. Located in Pampanga province, you can see Mt. Arayat clearly as you traverse the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX). The volcano is actually visible even from afar on a clear day. I have shared photos of it from our village in Antipolo, Rizal.
Mt. Arayat as viewed from the NLEX viaduct. On the foreground is the Candaba Swamps
Another view of the ‘extinct’ volcano dominating the Pampanga landscape. Is it really extinct or perhaps just waiting to be awakened by a force of nature? That was how Mt. Pinatubo became active after a powerful earthquake a year before its big eruption.
I have seen the Mt. Arayat up close on a few occasions. One such time and perhaps the closest I’ve seen it was when we traveled along its foot to get to a wake in a far off Nueva Ecija town. There are actually many plantations or farms around it and along its slopes.
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On the RFID fiasco
Early December 2020, Metro Pacific Corporation suddenly had to deal with jam-packed toll plazas and queues that affected roads connecting to the North Luzon Expressways. Fast-forward and Valenzuela City apparently had enough of it and revoked the tollway corporation’s business permit. Later, matters were resolved with the tollways reverting to mixed toll collection to manage the queues at the toll plazas.
Prior to this, tollways corporation scrambled to meet the deadline set and re-set by the Department of Transportation (DOTr) through the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) for contactless, cashless toll payments. The question is if there was enough time for tollway operators to acquire the best (not just the minimum required) system for this endeavor. There are some opinions that this was basically required on short notice and for the government to get some brownie points for this.
Were there issues about technology and the corresponding costs to the acquisition and deployment of the necessary devices for seamless, contactless, delay-free (in relative terms) transactions for tollways? Probably so. Those RFIDs and the readers installed at strategic locations along tollways (i.e., entries and exits) were certainly not state of the art or the best available out there. Singapore, for example, uses a more sophisticated system for their expressways where you no longer have toll plazas and you won’t have to slow down to be detected by the system. That system has corresponding costs but is perfect for the city state given that most roads are tolled anyway because of their road pricing policy. In the case of our tollways, not all travelers are actually going to utilize the tollways as frequently as it would necessitate them having to get either the Easy Trip or Auto Sweep tags. That is obvious from the relatively low penetration rates for electronic toll collection (ETC). So it still makes sense to have hybrid booths for those not availing the ETC option. Anyway, travelers will have to exercise disinfection protocols to ensure infections are prevented.
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Another crash along NLEX – losing control?
We were returning from Clark last week when we chanced upon a crash site along the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX). We already suspected this as we approached a build-up of traffic along the southbound direction where there is usually free-flowing traffic. Here are some photos of an overturned vehicle on the median. It seems like it is the only vehicle involved as there were no other vehicle in the vicinity that could have been involved. However, it is possible that there was another vehicle involved in a situation where the overturned vehicle’s driver lost control after interacting with the other vehicle. Obviously both vehicles could have been traveling at high speeds (they are on an expressway) so this could have been an example where the combination of speeding and weaving in traffic led to an overturned vehicle (i.e., one lost control).
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Caught (up) in traffic 