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The 19.4-kilometer Pasig River Expressway linking east and west of Metro Manila for completion in 2023
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San Miguel Corp. to open by 2023 two major expressways connecting the Manila International Airport in Bulacan to the Skyway system
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Skyway Extension project connecting South Luzon Expressway and Muntinlupa Cavite Expressway will be completed this year
San Miguel Corp. (SMC) is working on several road infrastructure projects that will link the east and west parts of Metro Manila and connect the Skyway system to the Bulacan airport project.
“We will continue work to further decongest Metro Manila by linking east and west of the metropolis, through the Pasig River Expressway (Parex) project,” SMC president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang said in a statement.
Parex is a 19.4-kilometer (km), six-lane elevated expressway along the banks of the Pasig River that will complete the north-south and east-west link, connecting Road-10 in Manila, EDSA, and C5, and decongesting Rizal, Cainta, and Marikina.
Ang said the Parex project, set to open by 2023, will provide a faster and alternative access to the business districts of Makati, Ortigas, and Bonifacio Global City.
Also set to open by 2023 are two major expressways connecting SMC’s Manila International Airport (MIA) in Bulakan, Bulacan.
READ: Boskalis gets $1.7B dredging contract for Bulacan airport project
Construction of the P740-billion MIA has already started and opening of the airport complex is slated for 2025, Ang said. SMC’s unit, San Miguel Aerocity, in September 2019 signed the concession agreement for the project after the notice of award was handed to SMC in August 2019 for its unsolicited proposal.
The airport, to sit on a 2,500-hectare area in Bulakan, will have a passenger terminal building with a design capacity of 100 million to 200 million passengers per year, four parallel runways that are upgradable to six, and eight taxiways.
Ang said both Parex and the two expressways connecting to MIA will be connected to the Skyway system.
SMC on January 15 finally opened all of the seven lanes of the 18-km Skyway Stage 3 from South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) in Alabang to North Luzon Expressway (NLEX).
READ: All seven lanes of Skyway Stage 3 linking SLEX and NLEX to open Jan 15
Skyway Stage 3—which broke ground in 2014 during the administration of President Benigno Aquino III and took six years to complete due to numerous challenges—is seen to greatly improve travel times and traffic conditions in and around Metro Manila.
“At full capacity, with seven lanes available, Skyway can easily handle 50% of EDSA traffic, or 200,000 vehicles per day. Together with the existing Skyway 1 and 2, the Skyway system now has 38 kilometers of elevated expressway with 36 on- and off-ramp access points. This will greatly contribute to decongesting Metro Manila traffic,” Ang noted.
Meanwhile, the ongoing Skyway Extension project is scheduled for completion this year.
The P10-billion project, fully funded by concessionaire SMC, will extend the Skyway from Susana Heights on SLEX to Sucat in Parañaque and back, and will provide direct access to the elevated section of the Skyway.
It will connect SLEX and Muntinlupa Cavite Expressway to the Skyway at Susanna Heights, bypassing Alabang, to shorten travel from south to north via the Skyway system. The project, started in late 2019, will also eliminate traffic buildup along SLEX heading to Alabang and the Alabang viaduct.
