Skyway Stage 3 (Photo courtesy of Ramon Ang Facebook page)
MANILA – The 18-kilometer Skyway Stage 3 project will be fully operational on Jan. 14 next year, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) announced on Tuesday.
Once it becomes fully operational, travel time from the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) to the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) will be reduced from two hours to only 30 minutes, while Makati City to Quezon City will only be 20 minutes away, DPWH Secretary Mark Villar said.
The Skyway, a “Build, Build, Build” project, partially opened on Dec. 29.
“Skyway Stage 3 is a critical component of the Edsa decongestion project — a masterplan composed of 25 projects. When the project is fully opened on January 14, at least 55,000 vehicles are expected to be diverted from Edsa, C5, and other major thoroughfares,” Villar said in a statement.
The Skyway is an elevated expressway spanning from Buendia in Makati to NLEX in Balintawak, Quezon City.
Earlier, San Miguel Corporation (SMC) president Ramon Ang said starting Tuesday, the use of the Skyway will be free to motorists for one month.
The project has seven available ramps: Buendia Northbound On Ramp and Southbound Off Ramp, Plaza Dilao Southbound On Ramp, Quezon Avenue Northbound and Southbound On and Off Ramp, and Balintawak Northbound Off Ramp and Southbound On Ramp.
“The Skyway Stage 3 project will eventually connect to the NLEX Harbor Link, which opened this year, via the NLEX SLEX Connector in 2021,” Villar said.
“We are confident that by 2022, every city in Metro Manila will be accessible in a 20 to 30 timeframe,” he added.
The NLEX-SLEX Connector is an 8-kilometer elevated four-lane toll expressway that traverses the NLEX Southbound Route from the end of Segment 10 along C3 Road in Caloocan to the Polytechnic University of the Philippines in Sta. Mesa, Manila.
It is expected to divert at least 35,000 motorists every day from Edsa and C5. (PNA)
