Senate President Franklin Drilon delivering his eulogy for former Senator Flavier. (MNS photo)
MANILA (Mabuhay) – The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) is targeting to seal the P600-million deal that would integrate the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) and the Subic Clark Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) by early February.
In a statement emailed Wednesday, the agency said it is coordinating with Manila North Tollways Corp. to speed up the signing of the agreement on the integration of the two expressways ahead of the February 12 deadline set by Senate President Franklin Drilon.
“We are working at signing the agreement in the first week of February,” BCDA president and CEO Arnel Paciano Casanova said.
“We are just waiting for the go-signal of the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel before we can sign off on the agreement,” he added.
Once signed, the toll integration agreement will be submitted to the Toll Regulatory Board for approval, the BCDA said.
Drilon earlier met with the BCDA and the operators of the expressways in North Luzon to discuss the integration after his trip to Baguio during the holidays took 11 hours.
At present, the operations of the SCTEX and TPLEX are already partially integrated, with motorists no longer needing to queue separately in La Paz to pay and get new toll cards for SCTEX and TPLEX.
“We just need to thresh out details on the settlement of payments and other documentation,” Casanova said.
There are also discussions between SCTEX and TPLEX to make driving through the two expressways more seamless.
“For the long term, there will be discussions for a unified radio frequency ID (RFID) and other technologies to make it even more efficient for operators and motorists,” Casanova said.(MNS)