MANILA, Philippines – Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) is open to the proposal of Ayala Corp.’s AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp. and SM Investments Corp. to build the C-3 elevated tollway as an additional tollway to provide motorists more options and be beneficial in catering to anticipated traffic growth in the future.
MPTC president Rodrigo Franco said the company is not worried about the proposal of AC Infrastructure and SM to build the 8.6-kilometer C-3 elevated tollway which would start from C-3 Sta. Mesa area in Manila, linking Skyway Stage 3 to Mall of Asia in Pasay at a cost of P25 billion.
He said in the short-term, the additional expressway would provide motorists more options.
“It will give motorists the option on which alignments to take,” he said.
Franco said the proposed C-3 elevated expressway is also expected to give motorists access to other areas. “It’s like having an extension to Ayala and Buendia. It’s like having an extension to MOA (Mall of Asia),” he said.
As MOA is near MPTC’s Manila-Cavite Toll Expressway (Cavitex), he said the proposal would also help in the interconnection of Cavitex with other major roads.
“They (AC Infrastructure and SM) will be starting from Sta. Mesa then going to Circuit City, then to Buendia. When they get to Buendia, it will interconnect to the common alignment of San Miguel and MPTC. In effect, there will be connection. They are complementary,” Franco said.
AC Infrastructure and SM submitted the unsolicited proposal for the C-3 elevated expressway which is expected to reduce congestion along EDSA and improve access to Manila Bay development areas, Makati central business district as well as the cities of Mandaluyong, San Juan and Manila, late last month.
As the proposed project would connect to the Skyway Stage 3, AC Infrastructure president and chief executive officer Jose Rene Almendras earlier said, the consortium has approached San Miguel Corp. to join the project.
10 April 2017
By Louella Desiderio
