Traveling to the South just got better!
The new 6x6 lanes configuration of the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) from Susana Heights, Muntinlupa City to Calamba City, Laguna — with two additional lanes on both southbound and northbound sides — will be opened in December, in time for the expected Christmas traffic rush.
In a statement, San Miguel Corporation (SMC) chairman and CEO Ramon S. Ang said the four new additional lanes will be officially opened to motorists by the third week of December.
The 29-kilometer road-widening project along SLEX stretches from the Susana Heights Exit in Muntinlupa City to Calamba City.
"This year, as our countrymen prepare to celebrate Christmas and travel more to spend time with friends and family, they can look forward to a wider, better SLEX. This will help in significantly reducing traffic buildup during the holiday rush," the SMC chairman said.
“The SLEX expansion is a major undertaking that entailed significant effort and investment, and a lot of patience and cooperation from motorists and stakeholders. We are very glad that motorists can soon enjoy faster trips to and from Southern Luzon,” he added.
Meanwhile, the construction of the Calamba-Santo Tomas City, Batangas section, as well as the expansion of 20 bridges along the expressway, is expected to be completed by July 2025.
“Our contractors and project teams continue to do everything they can to minimize impact on vehicle traffic,” Ang said.
“We want to assure our motorists that we will continue to work as efficiently as possible, and minimize disruptions to their travel as we complete the expansion.”
The road-widening project, which will ultimately bring Southern Luzon's main toll road to a total of 12 lanes, was started last year.
Meanwhile, SLEX has also finished the decommissioning of several toll plazas, including the Calamba Main Toll Plaza, as part of its Seamless Southern Tollways project.
Structures have been dismantled, and the roads will be paved once the expansion work proceeds in that area.
In addition to the expansion of the entire carriageway, toll plazas at SLEX have been fitted with automatic license plate reading (ALPR) cameras as part of SMC Infra’s efforts to comply with government mandates on barrier-less expressways.
With the help of ALPR cameras, the company said it was able to lift barriers at toll entry plazas across SLEX, to reduce the need for motorists to slow down or fully stop while passing through.
This slowdown increases the likelihood of traffic build-ups, which sometimes extend to public roads that are interconnected with SLEX.
In 2022, the company implemented the Seamless Southern Tollways project which reduced the number of stops motorists had to do when traveling along the Skyway System, SLEX, and Star Tollway.
#WeTakeAStand #OpinYon #OpinYonNews