NLEX Corporation is rolling out long-term flood solutions after severe flooding again hit its Tulaoc, San Simon stretch during the recent Habagat rains.
The plan includes additional pumping stations and a water collection system in strategic locations along the expressway, Assistant Vice President for Traffic Operations Robin Ignacio said.
Ignacio said the strategy has already worked in other flood-prone areas — pumping stations quickly cleared floods at the Balintawak Cloverleaf in Quezon City and Caloocan, and under the Valenzuela Interchange. The system also prevented the Meycauayan and Marilao-Meycauayan-Obando river systems from overflowing.
In Tulaoc, NLEX will build a water collection facility to store rainwater during heavy downpours and release it once nearby creek levels drop.
The move follows President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s 2023 directive to raise the Tulaoc Overpass after deep floods submerged the area. The Department of Public Works and Highways has since raised the overpass clearance from 4.5 meters to 5.2 meters, allowing NLEX to raise its road level by a full meter — 0.7 meters already completed, plus another 0.3 meters.
DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon said the agency will also build a retaining wall in the area to support NLEX’s flood control facilities.
The Tulaoc segment is a critical link between Metro Manila and Central and Northern Luzon.
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