This article is part of a daily series of MegaProjects articles. If you want to know more about PPP projects with a considerable size visit our MegaProjects section. You can receive them by email on a daily basis.

Philippines' Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has issued a notice of award (NOA) to Metro Pacific Tollways Development Corp. (MPTDC) and its subsidiary Manila North Tollways Corporation (MNTC) for the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx)–South Luzon Expressway (SLEx) Connector Road PPP Project.

In May 2010 MPTDC submitted an unsolicited proposal to the DPWH, and the agency granted MPTDC an “Original Proponent” status for the project, which was later tendered on April 1, 2016.

In late June we reported that three developers acquired the tender documents for the project, namely San Miguel Corp (SMC), Obrascon Huarte Lain SA (OHL) and Hunan Road and Bridge. However, none of them finally submitted a proposal for the project on July 25, 2016, the last day of the Swiss Challenge for the project.

The project was approved by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board on February 16, 2015. The approval was however, conditional on the proponent to agreeing to the lower project internal rate of return (IRR) of 10.87 percent instead of 12.09 percent, by lowering the opening tariff from PHP100 to PHP87.

The NLEx-SLEx Connector Road is seen to de-congest traffic in Metro Manila by providing an alternative to C-5 Road, Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA), and other major thoroughfares. It is expected to cut the travel time between NLEx and SLEx from more than one hour to about 20 minutes. 

MPTDC will construct, operate and maintain the 8-kilometer 4-lane elevated expressway over the Philippine National Railway (PNR) right of way. It starts from C3 Road in Caloocan through Manila crossing Espana towards Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP), Sta. Mesa connecting Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3 (MMSS3). The concession contract will be awarded under a 37-year concession contract.