Sneak peek at (soon to be opened) Skyway Stage 3

Quezon City segment to open in time for holiday rush

Yesterday, our colleague and Editor at Autoindustriya.com, Vince Pornelos, had the privilege of giving us a sneak peek of the status of one of the Duterte Administrations big-ticket projects that will soon make traveling from the north of Metro Manila to south and vice-versa seamless. This is the Skyway Stage 3 Project that is intended to span a total of 18.83 kilometers and cost over PhP 37-billion of Filipino taxpayer's money.

Officially called the Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3 (MMSS-3), it is an elevated toll-road that serves as an extension of the current Skyway that spans from Buendia to south Alabang of the National Capital Region, and will directly connect Makati (via Buendia/SLEX) to Quezon City (Balintawak/NLEX).

Recently, the DPWH, led by Sec. Mark Villar, opened the onramps of the Skyway Stage 3 to select members of the media, and we brought along our cameras to give you a sneak peek at this new elevated tollway. According to the agency, it can take about 100,000 vehicles away from EDSA. Sec. Villar also revealed that the Skyway Stage 3 construction has already surpassed the 75% milestone, and that the DPWH already has almost fully completed their right of way acquisition.

The DPWH and CITRA have already opened the first segment of the Skyway Stage 3 from Buendia to Plaza Dilao in Paco, Manila. As for the rest of the segments, it's full steam ahead for the DPWH and San Miguel Corporation, the parent company of Skyway Stage 3 concessionaire, CITRA.

In the video, we give you a peak of the Skyway Stage 3 Segment 3 that spans from SM Centerpoint Sta. Mesa to Quezon Avenue, as well as a small portion of Segment 4 which continues from Quezon Avenue to Balintawak.

The road is still very much under construction as the barriers, on-ramps, off-ramps, lights, and other elements of the toll road are still being built. This bare concrete is still visible as the asphalt overlay has yet to be installed, but it's already looking promising in light of the DPWH's deadline.

The DPWH has also said that, sometime in December, they will be at about 95% completion rate and that motorists (including expressway-legal motorcycles) will be able to drive from Buendia to Balintawak (and vice versa) using the MMSS-3. The agency is pushing the project proponents and contractors to make it in time to help alleviate the traffic from the holiday rush.

The DPWH hopes that the MMSS-3 will be fully completed by March of 2020, with the remaining final touches mostly composed of the on and off-ramps between Buendia and Balintawak.

Anna Mae Yu Lamentillo, DPWH Build! Build! Build! Chairperson, says that the only limiting factor to the Skyway Stage 3's progress is inclement weather. Heavy downpours this season have resulted in longer curing times for the concrete. In addition, the DPWH puts personnel safety in highest priority, hence, stopping construction work every time the weather turns for the worse.

Next year, big bikers from the north and south of Metro Manila will no longer have any excuse not to ride up north, or down south, thanks to the MMSS-3.