Skyway Stage 3 set to open

San Miguel Corp.’s Skyway Stage 3 project—an elevated expressway that will dramatically cut travel time between the northern and southern portions of Metro Manila—will be finished by the first quarter of 2020.

This was announced on Friday by the Department of Public Works and Highways, whose Secretary Mark Villar led the inspection of the tollroad.

Parts of the tollroad will be opened before next year. Villar said the Plaza Dilao Ramp in Manila will be opened within this month.

“Construction of Skyway Stage  3 is in full blast. We are working 24/7 to deliver the infrastructure this July,” Villar said in a statement.

He said the so-called section 1,  from Buendia Avenue in Makati City to Quirino Avenue in Nagtahan, is now 83 percent finished. Section 3 from Ramon Magsaysay Avenue to Balintawak is also 81 percent complete, he said.

The whole Skyway Stage 3, whose ceremonial groundbreaking was held in 2014, stretches 18.68 kilometers and has a project cost of over P37 billion.

It is being built by CITRA Central Expressway Corp., a unit of food, beverage and infrastructure conglomerate SMC.

Once finished, it is expected to cut travel time between Buendia, Makati City and Balintawak, Quezon City from about two hours to 20 minutes.

The completion of the tollroad is a key part of the government’s plan to decongest Edsa, Metro Manila’s main thoroughfare.