page_title: North Luzon Expressway
section_title: Balintawak-Balagtas
hierarchical_section_title: North Luzon Expressway / Route description / North Luzon Tollway/NLEX mainline / Balintawak-Balagtas
caption_attribution_description: English: North Luzon Expressway. Southbound in the vicinity of barangays Lawang Bato and Lingunan, just after passing Dulalia overpass and Lingunan Exit.
context_page_description: The North Luzon Expressway, formerly known as the North Diversion Road and Manila North Expressway, is a 4 to 8-lane limited-access toll expressway that connects Metro Manila to the provinces of the Central Luzon region in the Philippines. It is a component of Expressway 1 and Expressway 5 of the Philippine expressway network and Circumferential Road 5 and Radial Road 8 of Manila's arterial road network. It was built in the 1960s.
  The expressway begins in Quezon City at the Balintawak Interchange with EDSA as a continuation of A. Bonifacio Avenue. It then passes through Caloocan and Valenzuela in Metro Manila, and the provinces of Bulacan and Pampanga in Central Luzon. It currently ends at Mabalacat and merges with the MacArthur Highway, which continues northward into the rest of Central and Northern Luzon. The segment between Santa Rita Exit in Guiguinto and the Balintawak Interchange in Quezon City is a part of the new alignment of AH26.
  The expressway, including A. Bonifacio Avenue, has total length of approximately 88 kilometers. The expressway segment has a length of 84 kilometers.
context_section_description: The expressway starts at Balintawak Interchange as a physical continuation of Bonifacio Avenue. A few meters after the cloverleaf is  Quirino Highway, with a northbound left exit ascending into a flyover to the northeast. Past this exit, Reparo Road parallels the expressway from Novaliches Exit to Eternal Gardens Memorial Park. The road approaches the Balintawak toll plaza, widening to 17 lanes only serving northbound traffic. The offices of NLEX Corporation is located near the toll plaza. A new toll plaza, opened in 2017, is built between the northbound and southbound lanes, servicing Class 1 vehicles (cars, jeepneys and other light vehicles),
  The expressway reverts to four lanes, continues northward, crossing Tullahan River through the Tullahan Bridge, intersects with General T. De Leon Street, and passes the Smart Connect Interchange. It then passes through industrial areas and businesses within Valenzuela. The expressway's East Service Road starts paralleling the expressway before Paso de Blas exit. The road continues on a straight route, with a Caltex service area located near the Dulalia overpass, until it enters Bulacan.
  It crosses Meycauayan River and after a few meters is the Meycauayan Exit to serve its town proper. Another service road named St. Francis Service Road runs beside the expressway's southbound lanes. It passes through residential areas and institutions within the municipality, intersects with Lias Road, and continues on a straight alignment. On Marilao, there is a Petron service area and after it are the Marilao River crossing and Marilao exit. It enters Bocaue after Marilao Exit, where Ciudad de Victoria and the Philippine Arena lies to the east. The road turns eastward to serve Bocaue toll plaza, where the southbound lanes widens to 22 lanes with 4 from a parallel road making a grand total of 26 lanes, and on the middle of it is a newly built toll plaza and road. It turns westward, passes through Bocaue Exit, Santa Maria River, and Taal Bridge, and continues on a straight alignment until Balagtas Interchange. Before it are the Petron for southbound and Shell for northbound traffic. Past the Shell service area is the Tabang Spur Road and Balagtas Interchange which was opened on March 20, 2012. This is the former terminus of the original segment of the expressway from 1967 to 1976 before it is extended to Dau.
caption: Southbound lane of NLEx through the barangays of Lawang Bato and Lingunan, Valenzuela.
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