Expressway connector project okayed

A P26.5-billion elevated road project that will link the North and South Luzon expressways (NLEx/SLEx) and help decongest Metro Manila has been cleared by the government.

The contract for the Skyway 3 project was approved by President Benigno S. C. Aquino III last Thursday, Sec. Ramon A. Carandang of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office said on Friday.

"We have approved the supplemental toll agreement ... this will pave the way for the construction of the connector road," Mr. Carandang said.

Proposed by San Miguel Corp. and Indonesia’s Citra Group, the 14-kilometer, six-lane, elevated tollway will be built parallel to Epifanio de los Santos Ave. (EDSA), with exits at Gil Puyat Ave., Quirino Ave., Plaza Dilao, Aurora Blvd., E. Rodriguez Ave., Quezon Blvd., Sgt. Rivera, and Balintawak, according to earlier reports.

The Transportation department, in a statement on Friday, said the project would be funded by Citra Central Expressway Corp. "[P]reparatory and advance works will commence before the end of this year," it said, with the project expected to be completed in three years. Round the clock construction is scheduled to begin by the second quarter of next year.

Once built, Skyway 3 is expected to help decongest EDSA and other major roads in the metropolis and will reduce the travel time from Buendia to Balintawak to 15 minutes from the usual two hours, the department claimed.

"[The] DoTC (Department of Transportation and Communications) along with DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways), MMDA (Metropolitan Manila Development Authority) and local governments of Makati, Manila and Quezon City will surely coordinate and do its best to minimize traffic inconvenience throughout the route of the project," Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya said in the statement.

"Our president is committed to build infrastructure that will ease the worsening traffic congestion and to enhance economic opportunities," he added. "Other projects such as the construction of the Tarlac to La Union expressway (TPLEx) and the widening and improvement of the Batangas expressway (STAR) are ongoing."

Still to be approved by Mr. Aquino is a similar NLEx-SLEx connector project proposed by Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), which involves construction of a 13.4-kilometer, four-lane expressway spanning the Philippine National Railway lines from Caloocan City to Makati City at a cost of P23 billion.

MPIC is the local unit of Hong Kong’s First Pacific Co. Ltd., which partly owns Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT). Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in BusinessWorld.

source:  Businessworld