The North Luzon Expressway (NLE or NLEx), formerly called North Diversion Road, is a limited-access toll expressway that connects Metro Manila to the provinces of the Central Luzon region in the Philippines. It is one of the two branches of the R-8 major radial road of Metro Manila (Quirino Highway is the other).

The expressway begins in Quezon City at a cloverleaf interchange with EDSA: a logical continuation of Andres Bonifacio Avenue. It then passes through Quezon City, Caloocan City, and Valenzuela City in Metro Manila. Meycauayan, Marilao, Bocaue, Balagtas, Guiguinto, Plaridel, and Pulilan in Bulacan. San Simon, City of San Fernando, Mexico and Angeles City in Pampanga. The expressway currently ends at Mabalacat and merges with the MacArthur Highway, which continues northward into the rest of Central and Northern Luzon.

A planned spur route from the San Simon interchange connecting to the existing Subic-Tipo Highway has been temporarily postponed, because the Spur/NLE exit currently serves as the connection between the expressway and the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway and there is a proposed direct interchange between the North Luzon Expressway and the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway, the latter serving as a direct link between Subic and Clark. The interchange is located at least 3 km north of Sta. Ines Exit.

The expressway, including Andres Bonifacio Avenue, has total length of 88 kilometers. The expressway segment has a length of 84 kilometres.

Originally controlled by the Philippine National Construction Corporation or PNCC, operation and maintenance of the NLEx was transferred in 2005 to the Manila North Tollways Corporation, a subsidiary of the Lopez Group of Companies. A major upgrade and rehabilitation has been completed in February 2005 and the road has now similar qualities as a modern French tollway. The main contractor of the rehabilitation work was Leighton Contractors Pty. Ltd (Australia) with Egis Projects, a company belonging to the French Groupe Egis as the main subcontractor for the toll, telecommunication and traffic management systems. To help maintain the safety and quality of the expressway, various rules are in effect, such as restricting the left lane to passing vehicles only and banning overloaded trucks.

The tollway has two sections: an open section and a closed section. The open section (within Metro Manila) charges a flat toll based on vehicle class and is employed to reduce the number of toll barriers (and associated bottlenecks) within the metropolis. The closed section is distance-based, charging based on the class of vehicle and distance traveled. Class 1 vehicles can use an electronic toll collection system (called EC Tag) to reduce wait times and congestion at toll barriers. A prepaid magnetic card (the NLE Badge) is provided as an alternative payment for class 2 and 3 vehicles. Both systems connect to accounts that can be replenished in various ways. Travelers not using EC Tag or the NLE Badge on the closed system will instead be issued tickets describing tolls for the various exits. In order to save costs concerning toll barriers at exits, many exits on the NLEx are parclo interchanges, having exit and entrance ramps running alongside each other so that both may be serviced with a single toll barrier.

Name

The expressway was named as the Marcelo H. Del Pilar Super Highway after Marcelo H. Del Pilar, the editor of La Solidaridad.

Technical specifications

• Name: North Luzon Expressway
• Concession holder: Manila North Tollways Corporation
• Operator: Tollways Management Corporation
• Length: 88 km
• Concession starting date: February 2005
• Concession ending date: February 2029
• Highway exits: 15
• Toll plazas: 4
• Rest and Service Areas: 7
• Minimum Height Clearance on Underpasses: 4.27 m (14')

Tolls

Class	Open System (Balintawak-Bocaue)	Closed System (Tabang-Sta.Ines)
Class 1 (Cars, Motorcycles, SUVs, Jeepneys)	PhP 38	PhP 2.20/km
Class 2 (Buses, Light Trucks)	PhP 94	PhP 5.49/km
Class 3 (Heavy Trucks)	PhP 113	PhP 6.59/km

Features

• Variable Message Signs displaying real-time traffic situations
• Rumble Strips located before toll barriers to alert motorists
• Emergency Telephones (every 2 km in the Balintawak-Burol segment, every 1 km in the Burol-Sta. Ines segment)
• Rest and Service Areas (privately owned and operated)
• Closed-circuit television
• Car Density Sensors underneath road surface
• Hidden Speed Guns
• Electronic Toll Payment (class 1), Prepaid Account Cards (class 2/3)
• Much of the expressway has been built to U.S. Interstate highway standards, featuring eight lanes through Metro Manila. As it enters the more rural area north of Manila, the expressway narrows to 6 and then 4 lanes with a grass median to separate the two carriageways.
• All signage is in English, and are nearly identical to the "big green signs" (BGS) on American expressway, including white lettering on a green background, with the exit tab in the upper-right corner (distance signs even employ a font similar--if not identical--to the Caltrans font; all other signs employ a different font).
• Like expressways in most American states, the NLEx uses a distance-based sequencing for numbering interchanges. Being a metric country, though, the system is kilometer-log rather than mile-log--exits are numbered according to the distance (in kilometers) from Rizal Park in Manila, which is designated as Kilometer Zero in Luzon.

Other information

Lanes

The NLEX has 8 lanes, which has 4 lanes in both directions from the Balintawak to Burol segment, 6 lanes with 3 lanes for both directions on the Burol to Sta. Rita segment and 4 lanes with 2 lanes for both directions on the Tabang Spur, Sta. Rita to Sta. Ines segment.

Speed limit

80 km/h near Metro Manila, 100 km/h in rural areas, but 120 km/h is permitted. Speed limits are strictly enforced via CCTV cameras and speed guns, and speeders are usually identified as soon as they hit the tollbooth. The highest speed recorded here is 364 km/h by a BMW 650i on April 17, 2008 along the stretch of San Fernando to Pulilan exit.

Drainage Enhancement Program

The entire stretch of the expressway underwent another rehabilitation regarding its drainage systems. The expressway is known to be flooded during the rainy season and the goal of the project is to fix the drainage systems within the road to prevent flooding. Within this period, certain lanes of the road were closed to the traffic. This in turn caused massive traffic jams along the road and the speed limit on the construction sites were reduced from 80/100 km/h to 60 km/h.

The program started on February 12, 2007 and finished on October 7, 2007.

NLEX shareholder companies

• Philippine National Construction Corporation
• First Philippine Infrastructure Development Corporation
• Leighton Asia Limited
• Egis Projects S.A of France

Pop Culture

• The expressway was featured in the music video to the song "Toll Gate" by the band Hale
• It was also featured in the movie "Sa North Diversion Road" in 2005, based on Tony Perez's stage play of the same name. It was created by Dennis Marasigan.
• From 6-17 June 2007, "On North Diversion Road", the play written by Tony Perez, was performed at The Arts House, Singapore, by young & W!LD, an actor training division of Singapore's W!LD RICE Theatre.

Trivia

• The expressway was once the longest and the most modern expressway in the Philippines.
• The expressway has similar signage found in a modern Australian motorway, due to the fact that one of the contractors who rehabilitated the expressway is an Australian construction company.
• The expressway is the first expressway in Southeast Asia, built and completed in 1968.
• For the electronic toll collection, the road uses transponders called EC-Tag and utilizes physical barriers to ensure that every vehicle had paid the corresponding toll fee. It is based on the 5.7 GHz standard.
• The road is a very famous spot for speeding and is frequently used by testers to test high speed cars only next to Metro Manila Skyway, even with highway patrols and several anti-speeding technologies along the road.

Exits

Exit numbers are based on kilometer post. Exits begin at 9 because the NLEx is a logical continuation of Andres Bonifacio Avenue. Rizal Park is designated as Kilometer Zero.

Kilometer No.	Exit	Location	Remarks
9	Balintawak Cloverleaf Exit	Quezon City	Southbound traffic defaults onto Andres Bonifacio Avenue. Going right is going to Manila, Navotas, and Malabon and going left is going to Quezon City proper, Marikina City, San Juan City, Mandaluyong City, and Makati City.
10	Novaliches Exit		This exit is only situated at Baguio Bound only. It is an alternate route to other parts of Quezon City and Bulacan province. From SM North Edsa (EDSA) please take the service road.
KM 11	Balintawak Toll Barrier Northbound	Caloocan City	Proceeding northbound, motorists pay the open system toll at this barrier. If the motorist exits on or before Bocaue Exit, it will encounter no further barriers. Beyond this, motorists enter the closed system and will pay the closed system's toll at the toll barrier for their exit. There is a runaway truck ramp next to the toll barrier.
15	Valenzuela Exit	Valenzuela City	The new name for Malinta Exit. Left goes to Valenzuela City proper. Right goes to Novaliches in Quezon City and Caloocan City.
KM 16 Southbound	Caltex Service Area		This service area has only with a convenience store and 3 restrooms. The tollway plaza here never existed.
18	Lawang Bato Exit		This is only a temporary exit. This will be replaced by the U/C Canumay Exit. It is situated at the northbound lane only.
20	Meycauayan Exit	Meycauayan City, Bulacan	From Manila, left goes to Obando and to Meycauayan City proper. Right lane goes to Barangays Libtong and Iba.
KM 22 Northbound	Petron Service Station	Marilao, Bulacan
23	Marilao Exit		From Manila, right goes to San Jose del Monte City. Left goes to Marilao town proper.
KM 26 Southbound	Bocaue Toll Barrier	Bocaue, Bulacan	Proceeding on the southbound lane, motorists pay the toll for both the closed and open systems at this barrier. This makes it the last toll barrier that motorists encounter southbound, regardless of where motorists exit beyond this point.
27	Bocaue Exit		This is the last exit on the open system. The closed system begins North of here.
KM 29 Southbound	Petron Service Area
KM 31 Northbound	Shell Service Area	Balagtas, Bulacan
32	Tabang Exit		The Tabang Spur Road entrance/exit. The entrance is only situated on the Northbound lanes.
KM 36	Tabang Toll Barrier	Guiguinto, Bulacan	This leads to Malolos City, Bulacan.
38	Santa Rita Exit		Left goes to Sta. Rita town proper, Malolos City, and Tabang toll barrier. Right goes to Plaridel town proper, Baliuag, and Cagayan Valley Region.
45	Pulilan Exit	Pulilan, Bulacan	Between here and the Total Service Area is the Candaba Viaduct, a 5 km long trestle over the Candaba swamps.
KM 48	Candaba Viaduct	Candaba, Pampanga	A 5 km long brige over the Candaba swamps, the longest brige in NLEX and Luzon.
KM 55 Northbound	Total Service Area	San Simon, Pampanga
57	San Simon Exit		The road at left of the exit heads to Masantol, the road at the right the of the exit heads to Santa Ana and Candaba.
KM 62 Southbound	Caltex Service Area	City of San Fernando, Pampanga
65	San Fernando Exit		This exits to the Olongapo-Gapan road. Bataan and Olongapo are to the west, Gapan to the east. Noteworthy are SM City Pampanga and Robinson Starmills Pampanga--both immediately east of the exit and visible from the expressway.
KM 70 Northbound	Petron Service Area	Mexico, Pampanga
72	Mexico Exit		Left goes to Barangays Panipuan and Sindalan of the City of San Fernando. Right goes to Mexico town proper and the Lakeshore Estates.
KM 76 Southbound	Shell Service Area
80	Angeles Exit	Angeles City, Pampanga	This exit is the alternate route to Clark Special Economic Zone proper and Diosdado Macapagal International Airport via Mt. View Subdivision in Balibago, Angeles City.
KM 82	Dau Toll Barrier	Mabalacat, Pampanga
83	Dau Exit		This exit goes to Barangay Dau and its large bus terminal and commercial center.
85	Spur/NLE Exit		This exit goes to the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway, Clark Special Economic Zone Proper, Diosdado Macapagal International Airport, Bataan province and Subic Bay Freeport Zone.
88	Santa Ines Exit		This is the current end of the expressway, with the possibility of the expressway being from this exit in a northeast direction until it meets up with the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway. Right goes to Mabalacat Town proper and left goes to the Concepcion-Magalang Road.

Future Exits

Except for NLE - C5 & NLE-C6 Interchanges, these exits are all under construction as of today. The exits from Tarlac City to San Fernando City, La Union are still being planned, being part of the Tarlac-La Union Expressway.

Kilometer No.	Exit	Location	Remarks
13	C-5 Exit	Valenzuela City	The exit will connect the expressway with the proposed northern extension of C-5 Road.
18	Canumay Exit		This exit will replace the Lawang Bato Temporary Exit.
24	NLE-C6 Interchange	Bulacan-Rizal-Manila-Cavite Regional Expressway, Marilao, Bulacan	This is an interchange with the proposed C6 Expressway.
?	Skyway: Balintawak Exit Ramp	Quezon City	This exit takes the motorists to the proposed northern extension of Metro Manila Skyway which travels over A. Bonifacio Avenue, some roads in Metro Manila and further into the South Luzon Expressway, this may have few exits and therefore a faster route.
?	NLE-NELE Interchange	Plaridel, Bulacan	This is an interchange with the proposed provincial spur road of North East Luzon Expressway.
?	SCTE-NLE Interchange	Mabalacat, Pampanga	This will serve as the direct connection between the expressway and the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway.

See also

• Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway

External links

• Manila North Tollways Corporation