STARTING on Monday, thousands of motorists and commuters are expected to troop to the expressways to go to provinces south of Metro Manila in observance of the Holy Week and grab the chance to be with families and relatives for a longer time.
Skyway O&M Corp. (Somco), Manila Toll Expressway System Inc. (MATES) and Star Tollway Corp. (STC), the operators of Skyway System, South Luzon Expressway (Slex) and Star Tollway, respectively, expect traffic to peak on Holy Wednesday and Maundy Thursday and on return trip to Metro Manila by Sunday until early Monday. With this, motorists are encouraged to plan their trips in advance to avoid the traffic rush and delays.
Somco, MATES and STC are prepared to manage the expected Holy Week exodus of motorists to and from Metro Manila and the provinces in Southern Tagalog, and to ensure the safe and pleasant trip of all their motoring patrons. They will intensify their patrol operations and motorist-assistance effort, cancel days-off of their field personnel, deploy ambulant tellers in busy toll plazas, and closely coordinate with the National Police Highway Patrol Group and local police to curb possible criminal activities. Tow trucks and ambulances will be available round-the-clock at strategic areas along the Skyway System, Slex and Star Tollway.
Somco expects an average of 200,000 vehicles on the Skyway System, while MATES sees around 275,000 to 300,000 vehicles to use Slex. At the Skyway System, the sub-base pavement repair and modification of the chariot guards at the toll plazas and the installation of emergency exits in Bicutan and Sucat were completed during the first quarter of the year.
Many road sections of Slex, as well as toll-plaza lanes have been repaired. All other ongoing rehabilitation and improvement works on the Skyway and Slex were suspended starting March 27 and will resume on April 7.
At Star Tollway, traffic is seen to grow about 15 percent from last year’s actual average of 37,000 to 42,500 this year because of additional road capacity. The two new northbound lanes between Lipa and Batangas cities and the newly paved lanes of the 42-kilometer Star Tollway have made travel safer, faster and smoother for motorists since late last year.
Meanwhile, more “exact toll” lanes at toll plazas on Skyway and Slex are now open to shorten vehicle queues and speed up traffic flow especially during peak days. To lessen transaction time at toll booths, motorists can pay their tolls ahead of time at the Slex offsite centers at the service stations along Slex namely, Petron southbound, Caltex northbound and Shell SB and NB. They may also purchase toll coupons for future use at said offisite centers. Motorists are encouraged to prepare exact toll to avoid delay. All these improvements aim to ensure the safety and convenience of the motorists, especially during peak traffic season, such as the Holy Week, during which the South Tollways operators are prepared to adjust the lane direction configuration by providing convertible toll lanes and opening counterflow sections during the time when and where traffic is expected to build up.
Motorists are reminded to keep their vehicles roadworthy by making sure that their vehicles’ cooling system, brakes and tires are functioning well and that fuel and oil are sufficient. They are also advised to strictly observe all tollway traffic rules and regulations, especially the speed-limit rule, for their own safety and those of others.