San Miguel Corporation (SMC) opened two of three lanes of the Skyway Extension project’s northbound section April 11, Sunday, with no toll fees for the 4-km segment until further notice—bringing to reality a long-term solution to traffic in the south.

SMC president and chief operating officer Ramon S. Ang said the northbound section that covers four kilometers from Susana Heights to Sucat in Paranaque, can be used by Class 1 vehicles with RFID starting at 4 pm on Sunday, following structural completion and asphalt-laying done last month.

Ang, together with Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar conducted the final inspection of the project before opening it to the public.

“The completion of the northbound section of Skyway Extension is testament to what the government and the private sector can achieve together. We are confident that by 2022, President Duterte’s promise of decongesting EDSA will come into fruition,” Villar said.

Ang, for his part, said “I am proud to announce to motorists from the south that finally, our long-awaited Skyway Extension northbound section is finally open. Our long-term solution to addressing traffic particularly on SLEX heading to the Alabang area has finally been realized. This would not have been possible without the support of our government, led by President Duterte and the Build Build Build team, who have helped us in so many ways to complete this project.”

“I’d like to thank too the local government of Muntinlupa and our private sector stakeholders, without whom we could not have gotten this done. Most of all, thank you to our motorists, for bearing with us. We are excited for you to finally be able to feel the benefits of this new project,” he added.

Ang said the northbound section provides a direct link to the elevated Skyway System for motorists coming from provinces like Laguna, Batangas, and Cavite as it allows them to bypass the Alabang viaduct, reducing congestion in the area. From SLEX, they can go directly to their destinations like Makati, Manila, Quezon City up to the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), via SMC’s new Skyway Stage 3.

He also announced that like in the case of the Skyway Stage 3 that was launched last January, no toll fees will be charged for the 4-km segment until further notice.

“We are confident that this will further reduce congestion along Edsa and usher growth to provinces in Southern Luzon and beyond,” Ang said.

He added that the northbound section, which will have three lanes, will allow the additional capacity of 4,500 vehicles per hour.

Ang estimates that the completion of the northbound section will cut travel time to NLEX to just 25 to 30 minutes from the usual two to three hours.

“We are thankful to our workers and engineers for their commitment to complete the northbound section right on schedule and also our motorists for being patient regarding alternate traffic schemes. We also thank our partners in government and the private sector, without whom we would not be able to complete work on this vital infrastructure,” he said.

Ang hailed the full cooperation and support of the Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Transportation, the local government of Muntinlupa, and private companies such as Filinvest, National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) and Meralco.