Proposed NLEx service roads in SF okayed

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO --- The Sangguniang Panlungsod here recently approved an ordinance proposing to establish service roads parallel to the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) within the boundaries of the component city.

The ordinance, authored by Councilor Alex Patio, has been revived from the original proposal filed more than three years ago.

Recently, the city council unanimously approved the ordinance, paving the way for the seven-kilometer-20-meter-wide service roads which are also intended to decongest the Manila North Road or MacArthur highway.

Patio, chairman of the committee on ways and means, said the ordinance had already been published on local dailies and that a notice will be posted in a national newspaper to enjoin affected property owners to meet with the city government to settle right-of-way concerns.

The ordinance, Patio said, breezed through public hearings with nary an opposition from various stakeholders, including most of the property owners where the proposed service roads would pass.

Some P500 million was initially requested to fund ROW acquisition and civil works, including the construction of four bridges.

To cut on construction cost, the city government is looking at the possibility of using silt hauled out of the San Fernando River as filing materials for the grading of the toll road.

-- By Albert B. Lacanlale