Tollway firm eyes diversion road to ease SLEX traffic

The South Luzon Tollway Corp. (SLTC) has laid out plans for the creation of a "diversion road" to ease anticipated traffic buildup during rehabilitation activities at the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX).

SLTC president Mark Dumol said an exit point is being created for motorists passing the Alabang viaduct and going toward the Filinvest area.

"One alternative is for us to create another exit point before the viaduct," he said.

Dumol noted that the alternate route would be passable in a few weeks when repair activities begin in the area starting May.

"The SLEX, its pavement, is an old structure and needs rehabilitation. It has been showing its age. The repair activities would help the expressway accommodate the growing number of motorists passing through it," Dumol said.

Earlier, the SLTC conducted a survey on vehicles using the SLEX. The survey will be used as the basis in the pavement design to be adopted as part of the rehabilitation project.

"The axle load survey aims to determine the actual load of the vehicles running at a certain location of the expressway at a given time of the day. This is an engineering requirement which will help us facilitate the specifications of the road when we begin the rehabilitation of the SLEX," Dumol explained.

SLTC is the joint venture company of tollway operator Philippine National Construction Corp. (PNCC), which supervises operations of the SLEX and the Skyway System together with the PNCC Skyway Corp.

The rehabilitation project will entail extension of the present SLEX coverage from Alabang to Calamba by 7.8 kilometers up to Sto. Tomas, Batangas, and connect it to the Southern Tagalog Arterial Road running through Sto. Tomas town in Batangas.

Funding for the SLEX expansion has been placed at P10 billion. – Rhodina Villanueva