SLEX toll cut proposal still up for discussions

MANILA, Philippines —  A proposal for a toll cut at the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) is still up for discussions, but the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) must first find a legal basis for it to push through, according to Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar.

“We consider, but of course it’s not that easy,” Villar told The STAR.

“We’re taking it up in the TRB but legally, we have to make sure that we don’t do anything that might later on be deemed as illegal,” he said.

Calls for a SLEX toll discount were made following the heavy traffic caused to northbound motorists along the SLEX by San Miguel Corp. (SMC)’s Skyway Extension project with the closure of its outermost lane after the Alabang viaduct on the evening of Sept. 24.

SMC president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang, however, earlier said moves to suspend toll fees are ill-advised and would end up being detrimental to both motorists and the country.

Last Sunday, SMC re-opened the third at-grade lane of the Skyway and inaugurated a new two-lane steel ramp connecting the Alabang viaduct to the elevated Skyway.

The additional lanes have managed to ease traffic on the SLEX, while construction of the SMC’s P10 billion Skyway Extension project is ongoing.

“In fairness to San Miguel, they did what they had to do, which is to alleviate the traffic. Now, there’s no more traffic. There are some inconvenience admittedly, but it was corrected immediately. I think it’s too optimistic to think that we can improve a certain area and not have some kind of inconvenience,” Villar said.

SMC Tollways president Manny Bonoan earlier said that heavy traffic should also be expected by motorists along the SLEX once the company starts doing the southbound ramp next year.

“We can’t guarantee that there won’t be inconvenience, but if we don’t do it, it’s going to be 10 times worse if we wait five years, so let’s just do this now because it’s going to be much worse if we delay it any further,” Villar said.

“The traffic in the southbound is not as bad as the northbound and we already built that ramp so I think that ramp can be used for north and south. So once the northern portion is finished, we can realign the ramp to service the southern portion. We can adjust it, there’s an option,” he said.

SMC is targeting to open the northbound portion of the Skyway Extension project by July 31 next year, while the southbound segment will be completed by December next year.

SMC’s Skyway Extension project will extend the Skyway from Alabang to SLEX near Susana Heights and the Muntinlupa-Cavite Expressway.

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