NLEX Corp. will increase its overall budget next year to P15 billion from P10 billion this year to take on expansion plans.

"Next year, (our capital expenditure) is about P15 billion for existing and planned expansion. This year, capex is about P10 billion," NLEX Corp. President J. Luigi Bautista said in an interview with reporters.

By next year, Bautista said NLEX Corp. will target to start constructing the P5.5-billion NLEX Segment 3 widening in San Fernando, Pampanga.

"One of the pain points in NLEX is the traffic congestion from San Fernando to SCTEX. We call it NLEX Segment 3 widening. It is going to be from San Fernando to SCTEx. We are going to add one line in each direction," Bautista said.

NLEX has already submitted the proposal to the Toll Regulatory Board or TRB as part of its concession.

"Hopefully, we will be able to start within the first quarter of next year," Bautista said, noting that construction will take about two years.

Additionally, the company's allocated budget for next year will be used to support the completion of three P7.89-billion five-kilometer Candaba 3rd Viaduct between Pampanga and Bulacan to further improve the safety and mobility of motorists.

The project, which includes the construction of a new bridge in the middle of the two existing viaducts, is scheduled to be completed by November 2024.

The new facility will augment the road capacity of the entire Candaba Viaduct from three lanes without shoulders to three lanes with inner and outer shoulders in each direction.

Particularly, the wider lanes and shoulders will improve the safety and convenience of those traversing the viaduct.

The Candaba 3rd Viaduct is being built using green and sustainable engineering practices and will be compliant with the country's latest bridge design requirements.

The NLEX Corp. is a subsidiary of the Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., the tollways unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp.