Daang Hari-SLEX link to be completed in Q1

MANILA, Philippines - The completion of the first public private partnership (PPP) project awarded by the Aquino administration is likely to be delayed further to the first quarter of next year.

Ayala Corp. managing director John Eric Francia said the P2.01-billion Daang Hari-South Luzon expressway (SLEX) link would be completed by February next year or a year after construction of the PPP project went on full swing.

Francia said the company is still trying its best to complete the toll road by December.

“We are pushing with rains like this. We want to compress the timeline and we are doing as much as we can. We are pressuring our contractor,” he said.

The Daang Hari-SLEX link was the first PPP project auctioned off and awarded under the flagship infrastructure program of the Aquino administration. Ayala Corp. through AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp. bagged the toll road project.

It was supposed to be completed last June but was delayed to December due to problems with interconnection to SLEX.

The company inked an agreement with South Luzon Tollway Corp. (SLTC) paving the way for the construction of the interchange linking the toll road to SLEX.

“We went full blast in February this year because that is when we got the full clearance from the SLEX side. It really takes 12 months to build from full blast,” Francia explained.

The Daang Hari-SLEX Link Road project involves the construction of a new four-kilometer four-lane toll road, from the junction of Daang Reyna and Daang Hari in Las Piñas and Bacoor, Cavite to SLEX through the Susana Heights Interchange in Muntinlupa, traversing the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) Reservation.

The proposed link-road would use the Susana Heights Interchange as exit and entry from north and south of SLEX and would include the construction of a new bridge or widening of the existing bridge crossing SLEX as well as the expansion of the Susana Heights toll plaza.