South tollways operators to keep Holy Week traffic fast, safe

Holy Week traffic on the South Tollways is expected to increase 12% more than the usual daily average of 330,000 vehicles that run to and from places south of Metro Manila.

The Skyway O&M Corp. (SOMCO), Manila Toll Expressway Systems Inc. (MATES) and Star Tollway Corp. (STC), operators of Skyway/NAIA Expressway (NAIAx), South Luzon Expressway System (SLEX) and Star Tollway, respectively, will exert added effort to keep traffic moving and motorists safe at all times.

Southbound (SB) traffic on said toll roads will peak on April 12, 13 and 15 (Holy Wednesday, Maundy Thursday and Black Saturday) and northbound (NB) traffic on April 16 and 17 (Easter Sunday and Easter Monday) on return trip to Metro Manila.

The South Tollway operators will implement Oplan Ligtas Biyahe: Semana Santa 2017, in coordination with the Philippine National PoliceHighway Patrol Group, the Toll Regulatory Board, other concerned government agencies and local government units.

While said Oplan officially starts on April 12, SOMCO, MATES and STC are prepared to handle the influx of motorists who opt to travel before the Holy Wednesday and during the non-peak days for faster and more comfortable trip.

At the Skyway system, SB motorists are advised to use the elevated toll road instead of the at-grade Nichols and C5 entry plazas where traffic volume is high.

On the NB direction, the Skyway Main, the old NAIAx, C5 Exit, Nichols and Sucat are likewise traffic-heavy. At SLEX, the SB toll plazas with high traffic volume are Calamba Main, Greenfield/TR3, Sta. Rosa, Eton and Carmona; while the NB toll plazas are Calamba Main, Greenfield/ TR3 and Filinvest.

Meanwhile, at Star Tollway, manageable traffic build-up is expected at some toll plazas, like the SB IbaanSan Jose toll exit due to increased traffic demand and the temporary closure of Sabang Bridge.

To address this traffic congestion, exiting Class 1 vehicles (cars/jeeps) will use the 2-lane Ibaan-San Jose NB exit and 2-lane SB entry while Class 2 and Class 3 (buses and trucks) will use the regular SB toll exit. Motorists returning to Manila on April 16 and 17 are forewarned of heavy traffic situation at major toll plazas like Sto. Tomas exit, Lipa-Tambo entry and the Ibaan-San Jose interchange.

Adequate number of ambulant tellers will be posted round-the-clock on busy toll plazas to speed up toll payment transactions and help ease the flow of traffic. Additional on-call ambulant tellers will immediately be deployed where and when needed.

Other mitigating traffic congestion initiatives and throughput enhancements include opening of additional lanes at busy toll plazas and implementation of “pay-atentry” on need basis.

For faster tollway entry/ exit, motorists are encouraged to prepare exact toll or have RFID stickers installed on their vehicles.

For motorists’ safety and security, SOMCO, MATES and STC, together with the local police and PNP-HPG, will intensity their security and patrol operations.

Medical emergency and service facilities like Lifeline ambulances, AAP tow trucks, quick response units and motorist assistance centers will be posted on strategic locations on the South Tollways from Makati to Batangas to help motorists in distress.

Motorists are again reminded to make sure that their vehicles are in tip-top condition and to observe tollway traffic rules and regulations, especially the speed limit rule.

The command centers that SOMCO and MATES operate round-the clock monitor activities and situations along their areas of responsibility through CCTV cameras and by radio communication that enable to immediately respond to motorists’ emergency concerns.

To request assistance, traffic update and related information and report road incidents, motorists may call the South Tollways network at 3168655 (TOLL); or the Skyway at (02) 7767777 and 0917-5398762; MaTES at 0917 6877539; and STC 0437567870 and 0917-5117827.

For traffic update, follow the Skyway twitter account @SkywaySOMCO and SLEX account @OfficialSLEX.