The linkup of C-5 road and the North Luzon Expressway is around the bend as the concessionaire sets construction of the 2.7-km Segment 8.1 for the first quarter.

Manila North Tollway is finalizing work stages alongside Public Works Department, the Toll Regulatory Board and other agencies, including right-of-way requirements, said officials in a statement.

“Segment 8.1 will facilitate a seamless connection of C-5 to the world-class NLEX, one of the priorities of President Arroyo in her bid to decongest Metro Manila and provide relief to motorists dealing with heavy traffic every day,” said Ramoncito Fernandez, First Philippine Infrastructure Investments president.

Majority of Manila North Tollway is owned by First Philippine Infrastructure—a unit of Metro Pacific Investments—which soon be named Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., the statement added.

In the workplan, a toll plaza will be built on Mindanao Avenue where motorists can enter and exit the expressway thereby easing the traffic congestion on Edsa Balintawak.

In Mrs. Arroyo’s 2006 and 2007 State-of-the-Nation Address, she noted the strategic importance of seamless connections toward the ultimate goal of linking the North Luzon toll road to the South Luzon Expressway, Fernandez said.

Segment 8.1 work will begin in March and is expected to be completed in April 2010.

“We expect the construction activities to stimulate the economy in the environs of the areas where the roadway will be built and to directly create some 600 jobs,” said Rodrigo Franco, Manila North Tollway president.

Parallel work by Public Works, the Metro Manila Development Authority and the Quezon City government covers infrastructure to connect Mindanao to C-5 through Katipunan Avenue.

In Valenzuela City, Mayor Sherwin Gatchalian reckons at least 3,347 families for relocation to National Housing Authority sites.

About 2,570 families were transferred to the villages of Bignay and Punturin last year.

Gatchalian ordered the release of an initial P1.6-million assistance in November to about 540 families in the villages of Gen. T. de Leon and Ugo displaced by the right-of-way of the C-5 that would stretch up to the Manila Port Area.