MPTC South expects spike in tollway volume in ’25

Metro Pacific Tollways (MPT) South Management Corp. expects traffic volume in its expressways to grow by 30 percent next year following the completion of three projects.

The subsidiary of Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. also set aside P14 billion next year for construction and maintenance of its tollways.

In a press briefing on Monday, MPT South vice president Elnora Rumawak said they were projecting average daily vehicle volume across all of their tollways to reach over 340,000 in 2025 from nearly 260,000 this year.

The Pangilinan-led company is currently working on its Manila-Cavite Expressway (Cavitex) C5 Link Expressway, Cavite-Laguna Expressway (Calax) and Cavitex-Calax Link Expressway.

The 7.7-kilometer Cavitex C5 Link links motorists from Makati and Taguig to Parañaque, Las Piñas and Cavite.

Its operational portions are Segment 3A-1 (C5 Link Flyover from C5 Road to Merville), Segment 3A-2 (C5 Link Flyover Extension) and Segment 2 (R1 to Sucat). Segment 3B—the tollway linking Cavitex in Parañaque in the west and C5 Road Taguig in the east—is under construction and slated to welcome motorists by the third quarter of 2025.

Calax is a 44.57-km expressway starting at Centennial Road, Kawit, Cavite, and ending at the Greenfield property in Biñan, Laguna.

By the first quarter of next year, the Governor’s Drive interchange—which is a part of the tollway’s Cavite segment—is set to be completed. This 7.8-km portion is seen to decongest traffic on major roads in Cavite such as the Aguinaldo Highway in Silang.

The other two Cavite interchanges, Open Canal and Kawit, are expected to be finished by the third quarter of next year.

The Laguna segment of Calax is fully operational. These comprise Silang (Aguinaldo), Silang East, Sta. Rosa, Laguna Boulevard and Laguna Technopark interchanges.

On target

Meanwhile, Cavitex-Calax Link is a 1.3-km tollway connecting Cavitex and Calax. It is targeted to be completed by the third quarter next year.

“We are quite confident in meeting the target within 2025. The right of way (ROW) acquisition is actually moving,” MPT South president and general manager Raul Ignacio said, noting that they were targeting to secure all right-of-way requirements before the year ends.

For the capex, Rumawak said they would be borrowing about P9 billion from banks. The rest will come from their own coffers.

Last year, the tollway operator inked a memorandum of agreement with San Miguel Corp. to design, build and operate the 88-km Cavite-Batangas Expressway and Nasugbu-Bauan Expressway.

The toll roads will traverse Silang, Amadeo, Tagaytay, Indang, Mendez and Alfonso in Cavite and will link motorists to Nasugbu and Bauan, Batangas.