Motorists heading toward Metro Manila continue to face heavy traffic along the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) as lingering floodwaters slow down vehicles and force the closure of outer lanes in affected portions of the tollway.

NLEX Assistant Vice President for Traffic Operations Robin Ignacio said the southbound side recorded more than eight kilometers of slow-moving traffic, with the queue extending beyond the San Simon exit.

Northbound motorists, meanwhile, faced around 2.5 kilometers of slow-moving traffic.

In a radio interview, Ignacio said floodwaters had already subsided but remained around nine inches deep in portions of the southbound lanes and six inches on the northbound side.

Two areas remained flooded — underneath the interchange and Tulaoc Bridge — which are located more than a kilometer apart.

NLEX personnel continued pumping out water, but Ignacio said backflow from surrounding areas was hampering efforts to completely clear the expressway.

“Although the water level has gone down, it remains at around six inches on the northbound lanes and nine inches on the southbound lanes,” Ignacio said.

Crews were also installing barriers to prevent water from flowing back into the expressway.

Ignacio said the outer lanes had been closed due to deeper floodwaters, leaving the two inner lanes passable in the affected section.

"We have closed off the outer lane because the floodwater there is deeper. We installed better barriers to help keep the water level lower along the two inner lanes," he added.