Taguig-Merville segment of South Link Expressway to open by end of July

The toll road arm of Manuel V. Pangilinan-led Metro Pacific Investments Corp. is opening a portion of its 7.7-kilometer C5 South Link Expressway by next month.

According to Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., the 2.2-km Segment 3A1, which will connect Taguig and Merville, Parañaque, will open toward the end of July.

“This alignment features the bridge that crosses over Skyway at-grade and South Luzon Expressway and aimed to decongest Sales Road, as well as the East and West Service Roads,” said Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar.

He said motorists were typically spending about 1.5 hours crossing these areas. The new phase will benefit about 5,000 vehicles per day and cut the trip to about three minutes.

The entire C5 South Link Expressway will seamlessly connect C5 and Cavite Expressway via Merville and Sucat.

“It will benefit about 50,000 cars in key areas of Metro Manila such as Makati, Taguig, Las Piñas, Pasay and Parañaque, as well as the roads of Edsa, Sales, East and West Service Roads,” said Roberto Bontia, president and general manager of Metro Pacific unit Cavitex Infrastructure Corp.

“C5 South Link from CP Garcia, Taguig when connected to Cavitex, Parañaque maybe traversed in under 10 minutes,” he added.

The P10-billion expressway will have three interchanges: Cavitex R1 interchange, the Sucat Interchange and the Merville Interchange.  Officials earlier said the project would be completed by the end of 2021, however, this would depend on the delivery of road right-of-way.

Metro Pacific’s domestic toll road network spans the North Luzon Expressway, Subic Clark Tarlac Expressway, Cavite Expressway and Cavite Laguna Expressway. It is also building the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway project.

Outside the Philippines, MPTC has invested in toll roads in Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand.