SMC says toll roads ready for Holy Week exodus

In anticipation of the heavy traffic volume for the observance of Holy Week, San Miguel Corporation’s (SMC) infrastructure unit announced that all necessary preparations were made on all its expressways.

SMC Infrastructure shared that since yesterday (April 3), it has increased its manpower deployment at the South Luzon Expressway, (SLEX), Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (STAR) Tollway, Skyway System, Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Expressway, and the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX) to help ensure safer and more efficient travels.

The firm also positioned mobile patrol units at key locations and more ambulant tellers are set to be installed at major toll plazas to speed up the flow of vehicles heading out of Metro Manila to northern and southern provinces.

“Our operations teams are prepared for the rush of our kababayans leaving Metro Manila to spend the upcoming holidays with their loved ones in the provinces. We’ve made the necessary adjustments in our manpower deployment to ensure that traffic will flow smoothly along our carriageways and speed up the scanning of Autosweep tags and cards at exits," SMC President and Chief Executive Officer Ramon Ang said.

“We encourage our motorists to make sure their Autosweep RFID accounts have sufficient load and to have their Autosweep cards ready in their vehicles, to avoid any delays. Our ambulant tellers are also equipped to scan cards for faster transactions, in case there is heavy build-up at the exits,” he added.

In addition, the company chief noted that all roadworks and activities shall be suspended beginning noontime of April 3 up to 10 p.m. of April 10. The implementation of traffic management plans has already been coordinated with authorities, SMC stated.

“To our motorists, we ask for your patience and understanding, as we all try to get to our destinations safely this Holy Week. Kindly anticipate heavy traffic and plan your trips well. Also, please make sure your vehicles are in good condition and are road-worthy, as common problems we see at expressways — blown out tires and overheating engines — can also cause a significant amount of delay and inconvenience to other motorists,” Ang said.

Further, he reminded motorists to put safety as priority. Apart from wearing seatbelts and maintaining a safe braking distance, motorists are reminded to also adhere to speed limits along expressways. To note, at-grade expressways have a maximum speed limit of 100 kilometers per hour (kph) for Class 1 vehicles, and 80 kph for Classes 2 and 3 vehicles. Meanwhile, the Skyway Stage 3 and the NAIA Expressway have a maximum speed limit of 60 kph.

Earlier, SMC Infrastructure implemented the Seamless Southern Tollways program that trimmed down the number of toll stops for motorists passing SLEX and STAR Tollway.

“Before the Seamless program, traffic buildup at Calamba usually stretched five to seven kilometers. Now, it is gone,” Ang explained. We have no more traffic build-up at Calamba and SLEX Greenfield, and our existing toll plazas there are being dismantled.”

“We are grateful to our LGU partners who have been supportive of the Seamless Southern Tollways program. We continue to collaborate closely so that we can jointly manage the traffic flow in the exits,” Ang said.

Photos from San Miguel Corporation

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