Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3 Full Opening on January 2021 | DPWH #BuildBuildBuild Philippines

On December 29, 2020, the remaining segment of Skyway Stage 3 up to NLEX partially opened despite challenges continuous rainfalls; Skyway Stage 3 will be fully operational on January 14, 2021. Motorists may use Skyway Stage 3 free for one month.  Travel time from NLEX to SLEX will be reduced from two hours to only 20 minutes. #BuildBuildBuild

The Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3 Project (MMSS3) is an elevated expressway from Buendia, Makati City to the North Luzon Expressway in Balintawak, Quezon City with a length of about 18.83 kilometers. 2x3 lanes from Buendia to Sgt. Rivera corner A. Bonifacio, Quezon City, 2x2 lanes from Sgt. Rivera corner A. Bonifacio to NLEX Balintawak, Quezon City and 2x3 lanes elevated roadway structure that will connect to the NLEX-SLEX Connector Road Project in the vicinity of PUP.

Dubbed as "Skyway Stage 3", the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) had received an unsolicited proposal for the construction of the elevated toll road Skyway's extension from San Miguel Corporation-backed Citra Metro Manila Tollways Corp. (CMMTC) which according to their proposal would run from Bicutan, Taguig to Balintawak, Quezon City. The DPWH included the project in its PPP thrust and subjected the proposal to a Swiss Challenge, a procedure that requires a government agency which has received an unsolicited bid for a project to publish the bid and invite third parties to match or exceed it.

Construction of Skyway Stage 3 started on February 17, 2014. However, construction delays and right-of-way issues has rescheduled its target completion date to 2020.

The original plans called for the 14 km (8.7 mi) project to be divided into four segments. The original alignment would consist of Zamora flyover, crossing the Pasig River, meeting up with the NLEX-SLEX Connector near the PUP campus, and passing through Old Santa Mesa Road and V. Mapa Street. However, due to right-of-way issues, the alignment was forced to be realigned, veering right from Paco-Santa Mesa Road through the San Miguel Yamamura Packaging Corporation plastic plant in Pandacan, and follow the San Juan River up to Gregorio Araneta Avenue. A second modification of the plans added a fifth segment at the north end of the project. Instead of ending at the Balintawak Cloverleaf at EDSA, Segment 5 would cross over EDSA and Quirino Highway's Camachile and Old Novaliches Flyovers and ultimately connect to the Balintawak Toll Plaza of North Luzon Expressway in Caloocan, bringing the entire Stage 3 segment to 18.68 kilometers (11.61 mi) long. This new segment opens a new possibility of further expansion to the north.

A short stretch of the northbound lanes of the Buendia–Quirino portion which crosses Buendia Avenue was opened to motorists in June 2018. The Buendia–Plaza Dilao segment was then partially opened on July 22, 2019, toll-free and exclusively to Class 1 vehicles only. The northbound exit ramp to Quirino Avenue was completed on December 23. On February 1, 2020, a fire at the San Miguel Yamamura Packaging Corporation plastic plant in Pandacan caused a 300 m (980 ft) portion of Skyway Stage 3 to collapse, causing untimely delays in the project. The damaged portions from the fire required total reconstruction of the pierheads and the replacement of the burnt girders, pushing back the opening of the segment to November 2020.

On October 13, 2020, SMC announced a final concrete pouring and completion of Skyway Stage 3. However, due to continuous rainfalls, the asphalt laiding was delayed. On December 29, 2020, the remaining segment of Skyway Stage 3 up to NLEX partially opened despite challenges continuous rainfalls; Skyway Stage 3 will be fully operational on January 14, 2021. Motorists may use Skyway Stage 3 free for one month. The Buendia northbound entry ramp, Quezon Avenue Exit, Del Monte southbound toll plaza, and its northern terminus at NLEX (Balintawak) were then opened to the public.

Skyway Stage 3 fully opens on January 2021

The long-awaited Skyway Stage 3 project will be fully open starting January 2021. San Miguel Corporation (SMC) announced on Monday, December 28, that only 4 lanes will be opened to motorists. All 7 lanes of the 17.93-kilometer stretch will be open by January 14.

Toll fees are waived for the first month of Skyway Stage 3 operations.

The Skyway Stage 3 is one of the 23 big-ticket infrastructure projects that the Department of Public Works and Highways eyed to help ease congestion along EDSA.

The new tollway is linked to the Skyway Stage 2 in Buendia, Makati City and therefore will cut travel time to the North Luzon Expressway to 20 minutes, from around 3 hours through EDSA.




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