New interchange to spur Southern Luzon development

Southern Luzon, particularly Cavite, Laguna, Batangas and Quezon, is poised for rapid progress with the expected completion of a new interchange at the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) in Sta. Rosa, Laguna and a circumferential road through Biñan and Sta. Rosa towns.

Local leaders led by Laguna Vice Governor Dan Fernandez said, "The interchange will boost development and attract more investors to the province."

The interchange will greatly improve traffic in the area, directly benefiting the 60,000 employees working in the Laguna Technopark and Laguna International Industrial Park (LIIP), the more than 150 companies in the area and the hundreds of Sta. Rosa, Biñan, Cabuyao, Silang, Tagaytay and Batangas residents.

The companies that would have great use of the interchange include Ford Motors Corp. Toyota, Honda, Isuzu, Amkor Anam, Asia Brewery, Integrated Microelectronics, Inc., Nissan, Toshiba, NEC, National Panasonic, Hitachi, Fujitsu and many other Fortune 500 firms.

The new interchange will not only alleviate traffic congestion, but also absorb the expected exponential influx of vehicles to the new growth center in Sta. Rosa.

Fernandez said the project will also provide new opportunities to residents of Sta. Rosa and adjoining towns. Laguna has a population of two million.

The project is one of the infrastructure undertakings of the province, with the Sta. Rosa interchange funded by the private sector.

He said the interchange will open up the province to more business pursuits, enhance the growth of tourism, create more jobs and speed up the development of Laguna as an industrial center.

The projects, to be funded by the private sector, are in line with President Arroyo’s program to spur infrastructure development, boost countryside growth and generate employment.

The new infrastructure, Fernandez said, will further enhance the area as a full-service business district in Southern Luzon and the "Little Detroit of the Philippines." Sta. Rosa hosts the manufacturing plants of Ford, Toyota, Nissan and Honda.

The circumferential road, an alternate route from the Tagaytay-Balibago Road to the Mamplasan Interchange, and the interchange, to be located along South Luzon Expressway at Barangay Malitlit, Sta. Rosa, Laguna, will both be privately-funded.

These vital infrastructure, once completed, will be donated to the government and made available for use by the public.

It was learned that the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) had planned to construct an alternate road along the site to decongest the heavy traffic between Tagaytay and the South Luzon Expressway but this was not implemented for lack of funds.

The new road is expected to open up areas for further development and trigger a real estate and construction boom.

Fernandez foresees the relocation of more multinational and industrial companies from other countries within the industrial zoness in the area, spurring the growth not only of Laguna but of nearby provinces as well.

Laguna is already the site of major industrial zones, including the Laguna Technopark and Light Industry and Science Park, which, in turn, are surrounded by residential, commercial and recreational communities.

The proposed interchange, to cost some P175 million, will greatly reduce traffic congestion in the Sta. Rosa interchange.