SLEX Modernizes for Motorists' Convenience

Travelers to the southern portion of Luzon will find their journey easier with the continuous modernization of the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX). The SLEX extension will allow motorists to avoid the frequently congested national road between Calamba and Batangas, cutting their travel time by half. The extension is expected to boost tourism and economic growth in the area. According to government data, 60 percent of all products in Luzon travel through SLEX as well as those coming from Visayas and Mindanao via the Port of Batangas.

The South Luzon Tollway Corporation (SLTC), builders and operators of Manila’s main arterial road to the south extends the SLEX from where it ends in Barangay Turbina, Calamba by eight kilometers and built four new lanes, six bridges, three overpasses and a flyover connecting it to the STAR Tollway. And as with the Alabang-Calamba section of the SLEX, the extension will be well-lit and monitored by high-definition cameras.

Installed one kilometer apart, these cameras are able to see objects 1.5 kilometers away and swivel 360 degrees in all directions, enabling authorities to help stop litterbugs, speedsters and spot accidents or any motorist in need of assistance. This entire high-tech network is operated via the newly inaugurated SLTC Operations Control Center (OCC) in Calamba. In there, fifty monitors continuously get real-time video feeds allowing traffic controllers to zoom into the faces of drivers and passengers, plate numbers and other identifying marks of any vehicle traveling on both directions of the SLEX.

Aside from improving safety for motorists, it also speeds up emergency response of the deputized police officers, well-trained paramedics and mechanical services crew since the location, source and gravity of the traffic incident can be established instantly. Even small belongings falling on the road can be easily spotted and retrieved for their owners.

The SLTC, under a concession obtained in 2006, holds the rights to rehabilitate, expand, operate and maintain the SLEX. The SLTC took over the operation and maintenance of the SLEX last May 2010. Since then, it has rehabilitated and widened the 1.2-kilometer Alabang Viaduct and the 27.3-kilometer Alabang to Calamba portion. Aside from this, a formal groundbreaking ceremony was held to mark the start of a further extension for the SLEX. This time, it will stretched by some 50 kilometers, eventually ending in Lucena City. The completion of this project starts upon the government’s delivery of the rights of way for the new road alignment.

The SLTC is formed through a joint-venture of the Philippine National Construction Corporation (PNCC) and MTD Manila Expressways (MTDME), which is a subsidiary of MTD Capital Bhd, a publicly listed company in Malaysia. The funding for the SLEX project was originally pegged at P 8.5-billion, but has reached P 11-billion due to the increase in the cost of supplies during construction. The funding of the project was solely done by MTD Capital Bhd.