The North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) management is expected to implement zipper lanes to ease congestion as most of the travelers from the north are expected to make their way back to Metro Manila by Monday night.

As of 7 p.m., parts of NLEX were experiencing slow moving traffic, with a two-kilometer queue at the Tarlac toll plaza. The average vehicle speed at the boundary of Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) and NLEX was at 10 to 15 kilometers per hour.

Authorities have also opened a zipper lane from Dau to Mexico southbound, with the average speed in the area at 30-40 kph.

The peak of the traffic in the expressway is expected between Monday afternoon to early Tuesday morning.

According to NLEX management, they are expecting around 400,000 vehicles to pass through the expressway Monday. This is 15 percent more than the regular average of 350,000 to 370,000 vehicles a day.

According to NLEX SCTEX Traffic Senior Manager Robin Ignacio, the traffic on Sunday peaked around 5 p.m. until past midnight as some have returned earlier than expected to avoid the expected high volume of traffic today.

Ignacio said they monitored slow moving traffic as long as 10 kilometers last night particularly at the boundary of SCTEX and NLEX southbound.

Ignacio added this scenario can possibly happen again Monday night so they are planning to open zipper lanes along the northbound lane of Dau and approaching Bocaue toll plaza to manage the volume of motorists in the southbound lane. Eight cash lanes are now open for faster cash transactions.