SAN Miguel Corp. (SMC) said on Tuesday that traffic along its expressways will be a bit better starting December, as it completes the preliminary heavy works for the Skyway System’s P10-billion extension.
In a statement, Skyway O&M Corp. (Somco) President Manuel Bonoan said his group aims to finish the initial works for the Susana extension by the end of November, just in time before the Christmas rush.
Motorists, he said, can start using the third lane along the South Luzon Expressway (Slex) that is currently closed due to preliminary works for the project. The closure has been blamed for massive traffic jams the past several days.
“We have to be aggressive with the schedule as it is our best ‘window’ to complete preliminary road works before peak traffic season,” Bonoan said, explaining that the “present window” gives the company a fighting chance to finish the project by early December of 2020.
The P10-billion extension is part of the first phase of the Skyway extension master plan that aims to decongest traffic along the Slex and Skyway.
“If nothing is done, traffic is expected to worsen as current vehicle volume of about 1 million cars increases every year—especially with the growth in residential developments and business locators in Cavite, Laguna, Batangas,” Bonoan said.
Under the plan, both the northbound and southbound lanes of the Skyway will be extended all the way to Susana Heights. This will give motorists direct access to and from the Muntinlupa-Cavite Expressway (MCX).
This will add an estimated 4,500 vehicles per hour capacity to the northbound expressway, and around 3,000 vehicles capacity per hour, southbound.
Bonoan added that the second and third phase of the extension program will involve expansion of the Bicutan, Sucat and Alabang-Zapote Road access points, to decongest traffic in those areas.
“Again, our aggressive target to complete Phase 1 is by December next year. There are possible causes of delay: right-of-way issues, moving of pipelines, power lines, and the like. However, with the leadership and full support of the government, we’re confident we can still fast track and complete it in a relatively shorter period of time,” Bonoan said.
Image credits: Nonie Reyes