BIZ BUZZ: BALINTAWAK TO MAKATI IN 15 MINS

By the end of this year, traffic flow in Metro Manila should significantly ease with the completion of most of the 15-kilometer Skyway Stage 3, the elevated toll road that will extend the Skyway system from Buendia in Makati to Balintawak in Quezon City. This is one of the two toll roads that will connect the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) to the South Luzon Expressway.

With the upcoming skyway extension, which will have a minimum of seven lanes to as much as 10 lanes, a person driving at 100 km an hour can reach Makati from A. Bonifacio in as short as 15 minutes, said Ra

mon S. Ang (aka RSA), president of proponent group San Miguel Corp. At present, one is lucky to reach Makati from Quezon City in 45 minutes.

Skyway Stage 3 will be 95percent completed this year, reaching as far as Edsa in Balintawak, RSA said. This will especially benefit people who live in the northern part of the metropolis like Quezon City, Caloocan, Valenzuela, Malabon and Navotas, who regularly travel to the south or to the Makati central business district, and vice versa.

However, it will take three more months to extend the skyway from Edsa Balintawak to NLEx tollgate.

The common alignment with the other connector road being built by the Metro Pacific group (using the right of way of the Philippine National Railways) will depend on how soon the other group can finish its alignment, but RSA expects this to happen next year.

By the end of the year, 80 percent of the off-ramp structure and 100 percent of the onramp structure will be finished.

Once completed, about 200,000 vehicles are expected to use this new toll road.