December opening of expanded SLEx to ease traffic

San Miguel Corp. (SMC) is set to complete its expansion of the South Luzon Expressway (SLEx) by December in hopes of easing the traffic woes of more than 350,000 motorists traversing the 50-kilometer expressway.

The SMC said on Thursday that the project, which aims to widen the expressway from the current three to four lanes to six lanes on each side, was now 70 percent complete and expected to “dramatically improve” traffic flow.

Ramon Ang, SMC president and CEO, explained in a statement that the expansion project could also be a “significant” boost to the economic prospects of the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) region and help facilitate the influx of investments. Data from SMC SLEx Inc., which is leading the expansion project, show that SLEx has an average daily traffic of 351,024 as of June last year. —MEG J. ADONIS