Public Works Secretary Mark Villar announced that motorists would be able to use Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3, which connects the north and south expressways, before the end of the year.
“End to end, the whole Skyway is complete—substantially completed. At this point, we’re just working on the safety asphalt. We’re working with our concessionaire San Miguel,” Villar said in the Senate hearing of the P666.47 billion DPWH budget proposal for 2021.
“Definitely, before the end of the year, we can expect that it will be open. Very soon, we’ll all be able to enjoy the connection from NLEX and SLEX,” he added.
It is possible that the earliest opening of the skyway will be in December.
On Monday, San Miguel Corporation and even Villar announced that the 17.93-kilometer Skyway Stage 3 project’s construction had been completed this weekend.
It is said that it ended earlier than the original target schedule of October 31.
Due to Skyway Stage 3, the travel time from SLEX to NLEX will take only 20 minutes, compared to the current three hours.
The journey to Magallanes to Balintawak will be 15 minutes, Balintawak to Ninoy Aquino International Airport will be 15 minutes, and Valenzuela to Makati will be only 10 minutes.
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SLEX to NLEX in 20 minutes: Skyway 3 opens in December 2020
The 18-kilometer elevated expressway comprises five sections: Buendia – Quirino Avenue – Nagtahan; Nagtahan – Aurora Blvd/Ramon Magsaysay Avenue; Ramon Magsaysay Avenue-Quezon Avenue; Quezon Avenue-Balintawak, and Balintawak, Quezon City-NLEX Footbridge.
However, Connector Road is still under construction.
“The Skyway we’ll be able to use this year, the Connector probably before the end of the term… Perhaps in a year and a half, maybe we’ll be able to utilize a significant portion of it,” said Villar.
The secretary added that the Skyway project helps reduce the number of vehicles passing through EDSA.
“Over 50,000 vehicles per day will be decongested from Edsa. It is part of the Edsa decongestion program of President Rodrigo Duterte,” Villar said in a Laging Handa briefing.