Skyway and SLEX extension to Sto. Tomas now open

MANILA, Philippines - I’m standing at the opening of the new Bicutan to Sucat portion of the Skyway, about 25-30 feet above the tightly knotted chaos that promises to be untangled underneath. The sharp, piercing sounds of car horns and tired diesel engines rumbling below provide a fitting soundtrack to the event. There are a couple of important looking people standing around, seemingly overdressed for this unseasonable weather, but nobody looks out of place because there’s sensible reason to dress up and celebrate.

The Mayor of Parañaque, Jun Bernabe, is here. So is the Vice Mayor Gus Tambunting. MMDA Chairman Tolentino has arrived. Ramon “Chito” Borromeo, the extremely accommodating and friendly president and OIC of Skyway O&M walks fluidly through the gathered crowd greeting his guests. There were enough cameras and newspaper reporters milling around that I half expected Dante Jimenez to show up to see if there was an injustice that needed tending to.

For those who live or work in the South, waiting for the road to open felt how Hubert Webb must have in the hours that separated the announcement of his release on TV to the actual documents arriving at Bilibid – especially during peak hours, where traffic moved slower than the average regional trial court case. To think construction was completed a month ahead of schedule. The ribbon was eventually cut, and the right people stood in front of the cameras for the credit, and we all had the happy ending that the PR companies had carefully crafted. Now comes the best part.

The new 3.5-kilometer Skyway portion to Sucat should help decongest the busiest interchange in the entire SLEX. According to the man in charge of traffic and construction of the Skyway, Mr. Ed Nepomoceno, 17,000 motorists use the interchange daily, with around 60% of those going to BF homes. All things being equal, this could save between 30-45 minutes off the average commute to and from Makati. Skyway O&M have no plans for charging extra for the extension in the near future - except for today’s lift of the 23.5% discount that they extended during its construction phase, bringing it back up to the original 85 pesos for class 1 vehicles.

Those traveling to Alabang, however, should exit the temporary ramp after Bicutan to rejoin the at grade portion even if there is the option to exit Dr. A. Santos Avenue and then u-turn at Loyola and rejoin the expressway. I experimented with this on both a weekday and a Sunday, and neither time was I quicker due to the bottleneck at the u-turn portion. Good news is that the former bottle neck at the temporary Bicutan ramp has disappeared. At least during my test runs.

Skyway executives are confident they will complete the portion to Alabang before the May 2011 target.

Further down the road only a couple of hours after the ceremonial drive, executives from MTD and MATES, who operate the portion of SLEX from Alabang viaduct onwards, formally opened the 8.5 kilometer TR3 extension from Calamba to Sto. Tomas. The beautifully paved road connects the SLEX to the STAR tollroad and can cut out another 30-45 minutes from the commute to Batangas.

As this provides the final link to the Port of Batangas, this completes one of the most important corridors for trade between Luzon and the rest of the Philippines. On hand for the celebrations were Batangas Governor Vilma Santos with vice Governor Mark Leviste, as well as Laguna Governor George Estregan, who praised MTD for the new connection that will boost tourism and commerce to their respective provinces.

MATES has been caught up with all sorts of legal troubles ever since taking over the expressway early this year, but finally received approval of the new toll rates of 3.02 per kilometer, up from the fairly obsolete rate of 82 centavos. The new toll rates, although significantly more, will be used to fund much safer and faster travel for those using the roads, which in turn has led to reduced vehicle operating costs, according to their very pleased president, Mr. Isaac David.