SMC to open Makati-QC Skyway in December

The Skyway Stage 3 elevated expressway in Metro Manila is set to open to the public by December this year after starting construction six years ago, conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) said on Tuesday.

SMC, the food, drinks and infrastructure giant that built and funded the 18-kilometer tollroad, said toll fees would also be free for a month once opened.

“We’re very proud and excited about this project because it will truly make a big difference to so many people’s lives—especially with our economy slowly opening up and with more vehicles coming back to our roads,” SMC president Ramon Ang said in a statement.

The Skyway Stage 3 connects the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) and South Luzon Expressway (SLEx), slashing travel time between Balintawak in Quezon City and Magallanes in Makati City to as little as 15 minutes from more than two hours.

The tollroad is expected to decongest highways such as Edsa and C-5. But sustainable transport advocates said it could also create new traffic bottlenecks unless the government improves existing mass transport solutions to combat congestion.

Ang said the expressway would benefit motorists and the economy.

“With Skyway 3, we will improve the daily commutes and lives of so many Filipinos. We will lessen their time spent in traffic on the road, we can increase both their productivity and time spent with their families,” he said.

“Apart from this, the transportation of goods from north and south Luzon will also be so much easier, faster and more efficient,” he added.

Skyway Stage 3 is part of SMC’s sprawling

network of tollroads in southern Metro Manila and beyond that includes the Skyway system to Alabang, Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Expressway, SLEx and Star Tollway. SMC also operates the Tarlac Pangasinan La Union Expressway in Central Luzon.

With the opening of Skyway Stage 3, Ang said travel time from Balintawak to Manila’s Naia would take 15 minutes while driving from Valenzuela to Makati will take 10 minutes.

The massive tollroad was formally started during the Aquino administration in 2014 but suffered delays due to difficulties in securing right-of-way and design changes. The project opening was postponed again this year after a fire in a nearby warehouse damaged a portion of the project in Manila last February and the strict COVID-19 from March until June.

The project was partially opened to the public for more than a year now. SMC said the Buendia to Plaza Dilao section of Skyway Stage 3 has been operational without any toll fees charged.

In his statement, Ang thanked all stakeholders, including “government partners past and present, for their contributions to making the vision that was Skyway 3, a reality.”

Skyway Stage 3 will have eight access points across Makati, Manila, San Juan and Quezon City. These include Buendia, Plaza Dilao, Nagtahan, Aurora Blvd., Quezon Ave., Sgt. Rivera, Balintawak and NLEx. INQ