Skyway proposal ‘mind-boggling,’ says rival firm

Photo of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, or EDSA, taken on Jan.15, 2012. The Citra Metro Manila Tollways Corp. has proposed to build a skyway over the major thoroughfare, but its rival, the Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., thinks the proposal is not possible at the quoted cost of P24 billion. INQUIRER PHOTO/RAFFY LERMA

“Ambitious,” “incredible” and “mind-boggling.”

This was how the group of Manuel V. Pangilinan described claims by San Miguel Corp. (SMC)-backed Citra Metro Manila Tollways Corp. (CMMTC) that it could build a highway over busy Metro Manila streets at a lower cost.

Pangilinan-led Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) said CMMTC’s assertion that it was capable of building a high-quality, six-lane elevated highway with eight interchanges over some of the busiest roads in Metro Manila at a price tag of only P24 billion was impossible.

MPTC and CMMTC currently have competing proposals to build an expressway that would link the Metro Manila Skyway with the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx). Either proposal would significantly reduce travel time from one end of Metro Manila to another.

“We challenge them to push through with their detailed engineering design, which is a more scientific way of determining the cost of their project,” MPTC president and CEO Ramoncito Fernandez said in an interview.

He said CMMTC’s track record alone showed that it was “incapable of being as efficient as it now promises to be.”

Under its proposal, CMMTC, which is the current concessionaire for the Metro Manila Skyway, said its six-lane highway would have interchanges in Buendia, Quirino, Plaza Dilao, Aurora Boulevard, E. Rodriguez, Quezon Boulevard, Sgt. Rivera and Balintawak.

CMMTC said it would also cap the toll at P99 a vehicle.

“I don’t know what their traffic predictions are but P99 per vehicle is mind-boggling,” Fernandez said. “It’s a little on the incredible side.”

He also noted that it cost CMMTC more than P11 billion for the construction of Skyway segment 2 (Bicutan to Alabang), which has just two extra interchanges. Some sections of segment 2 also have only one lane on each side.

He said CMMTC’s promise to finish the project in 30 months or before the end of the Aquino administration was “ambitious.”

“They haven’t even started their detailed design yet. We know from experience that that takes close to a year,” he said. “For our proposal, we are ready to execute.”

Another weak point in CMMTC’s proposal was the company’s chosen alignment, Fernandez said. CMMTC’s Skyway-NLEx link, which would have the highway pass through busy Metro Manila roads, would cause more traffic both while under construction and once the road has been built, Fernandez said.

“Do you remember how much traffic the construction of the Skyway caused? That will happen all over again,” Fernandez said.

“Having more interchanges does not necessarily make the project better as claimed by CMMTC. It just means more traffic along those routes because of the tendency to put more strain on local roads,” he said.

Fernandez said MPTC’s own proposal, the so-called “connector-road,” with an estimated project cost of about P21 billion, was more financially viable and technically superior.

He said a recent study by the Japan International Cooperation Agency showed that MPTC’s proposed alignment that passes over existing Philippine National Railway (PNR) tracks was the most “ideal” route for any Skway-NLEx link.

Costs for “right of way,” which are shouldered by the government, would also be lower since MPTC’s proposed road would pass over areas that were already owned by the state. MPTC’s four lane connector road would link with the “Harbor Link Road,” a new section of NLEx that is yet to be built.

Having four interchanges, instead of CMMTC’s eight, would also lead to less traffic. “What we’re trying to catch are the cars that want to bypass the public roads and go from north to south,” Fernandez said.