SLEX Skyway Ramp opens on schedule

San Miguel Corporation (SMC) delivered on its promise to re-open the third at-grade lane of the Skyway on Sunday and inaugurating a new, twolane steel ramp connecting the Alabang viaduct to the elevated Skyway.

The additional lanes will ease traffic on the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) while the construction of the Skyway Extension project is ongoing.

SMC President and Chief Operating Officer Ramon S. Ang, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Mark Villar, Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Arthur Tugade, and Muntinlupa Mayor Jaime Fresnedi, led the opening rites on Sunday.

“I know that motorists from the south—Muntinlupa, Las Pinas, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas—have a hard time these past two months. Again, I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience

this project has caused,” Ang said.

“Our population continues to grow. We add about one million new vehicles on our roads every year,” he pointed out. “And yet we are still using the same main roads and inner roads from 30, 40 years ago.”

SMC’s 110-billion Skyway Extension project aims to mitigate the problem by extending the Skyway from Alabang to SLEX near Susana Heights and the Muntinlupa-Cavite Expressway (MCX).

The project will allow for an additional capacity of 4,500 vehicles per hour northbound, and an additional 3,000 vehicles an hour southbound.

With the slated opening of the Skyway Stage 3 project from Buendia to the North Luzon Expressway in a few months, motorists from the south will be able to take the Skyway Extension to bypass the Alabang viaduct and even Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA).

With the traffic measures now in place, the construction of the Skyway Extension will advance.

Ang appealed for public understanding. “We are doing everything to fast-track the construction and improve the traffic situation. It is a challenge, but we need to do it. We can no longer afford quick solutions. We need longterm solutions.”

“We all deserve better, and we will work to give you better,” he said.

ALABANG RAMP OPENED – San Miguel Corp. President Ramon S. Ang, DPWH Secretary Mark Villar and Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade (left, 2nd, and 3rd from left, respectively) open the new two-lane Alabang Skyway ramp and reopen a third lane at the at-grade section to ease the flow of traffic in that portion of the South Luzon Expressway. Tugade said the newly completed two-lane ramp was finished ahead of schedule.