AMID persistent traffic gridlock along northbound lanes of the Southern Luzon Expressway (SLEx) in the Philippines, the concessionaire has since rejected calls to reduce or suspend toll collections.
According to reports, the problem was due to the heavy equipment there for the Skyway extension project worth P10 billion.
San Miguel Corp. (SMC) president Ramon Ang has assured the public that traffic flow on Southern Luzon Expressway (SLEx) will return to normal by Dec. 1, and apologised for the inconvenience.
“I am very sorry for the inconvenience caused by its construction,” Ang told the Inquirer.
“My promise is that, by Dec. 1, we will be able to restore the use of three lanes for the ‘at-grade’ level of SLEx,” he said, referring to the span just after the Alabang viaduct.
However, the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) said it would still pursue the possibility of lowering toll rates and imposing penalties on SMC Tollways for the traffic jam.
TRB private sector representative, Raymundo Junia, said the TRB had already summoned officials of the operator of Skyway and SLEx to a meeting on Friday to discuss the problem.
The country’s largest conglomerate is building a 4-kilometre elevated roadway that will run parallel to both sides of SLEx, allowing motorists to bypass the traffic-prone Alabang viaduct and interchange.
Ang said the five-lane project (consisting of three northbound lanes and two southbound lanes) will solve traffic in Alabang once and for all.
In an earlier interview, Ang said SMC Tollways would not reduce or suspend the toll because the government owed his company up to P7.6 billion from unadjusted toll rates as of the end of September.
The TRB last adjusted SLEx toll rates in 2011, according to Ang. It did not approve the 30-percent toll increase supposed to be implemented in 2012, as stated in its contract.
SMC Tollways is the operator of most expressways in the country, including SLEx and Skyway.
Ang said SMC Tollways would not seek the implementation of higher toll rates at the moment, considering the already heavy traffic along SLEx from Alabang in Muntinlupa up to the nearby cities in Laguna.