MANILA, Philippines – A committee under the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has approved the endorsement of the Metro Rail Transit line 7 (MRT-7) to the Regional Development Council-National Capital Region.
The Sectoral Committee on Infrastructure Development Regional Development Council for NCR, chaired by Valenzuela mayor Sherwin Gatchalian, has formally endorsed the project to the RDC during a meeting at the MMDA.
Headed by MMDA chairman Francis Tolentino, the RDC-NCR is composed of the 17 Metro Manila mayors and the secretaries and heads of national government line agencies in Metro Manila and sectoral committees as members, among others.
MRT-7 is the fourth rail transit line to be built in Metro Manila. When completed, the line will be 22 kilometers long with 14 stations, and will be operated by the Universal LRT Corporation (ULC) under a Build-Gradual Transfer-Operate- and-Maintain scheme.
The line will run in a northeast direction, traversing Quezon City and parts of Caloocan City before ending at the San Jose del Monte City in Bulacan province.
Passengers will be able to transfer to the Yellow Line and Blue Line through the Metro Manila Integrated Rail Terminal that will link the three lines at North Avenue in Quezon City.
The project will provide a 22-kilometer rail transportation from Bocaue Exit of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) to the intersection of North Avenue and EDSA and a 22-km 6-lane highway road that will connect the NLEX to San Jose del Monte. The 22-kilometer mostly elevated MRT will start from there and end at the integrated station beside SM City North EDSA.
The construction of the project is expected to last three and a half year years, adding that a traffic management plan will be approved by the MMDA to ensure smooth flow of traffic during construction. - By Dennis Carcamo
