DPWH: Skyway users from South may now exit up to Java Street, Makati City

In an effort to help alleviate traffic in Metro Manila, Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark A. Villar on Friday, July 20, 2018 opened the 3-lane, northbound direction of Skyway Stage 3 from Buendia Avenue up to near Java Street in Makati, City.

DPWH Secretary Villar said instead of using Buendia as an off ramp, motorists may now exit a kilometer further along South Super Highway through a temporary ramp constructed near Java Street.

 

“The section, which spans 1-kilometer, will be temporarily opened until full completion of Phase 1, which ends in President Quirino Avenue in Manila,” said Secretary Villar. 

Secretary Villar said the temporary ramp near Java Street is currently one (1) lane passable but will be constructed into two (2) lanes, and eventually four (4) lanes, when the on-ramp and the southbound direction will be opened to the public.

 

The Skyway Stage 3 is a 6-lane, elevated expressway stretched in its entirety over Metro Manila from Buendia, Makati City to Balintawak, Quezon City with a length of about 17.54 kilometers.

 

The project is divided into five (5) sections namely: 3.76-kilometer Section 1 from Buendia Avenue, Makati City to President Quirino Avenue, Manila City; 0.96-kilometer Section 2A from Pres. Quirino Ave. Manila to Tomas Claudio St., Manila; 3.93-kilometer Section 2B from Tomas Claudio St., Manila to Aurora Blvd., Manila; 2.71-kilometer Section 3 from Aurora Blvd., Manila to Quezon Ave., Quezon City; 4.46-kilometer Section 4 from  Quezon Ave., Quezon City to A. Bonifacio Ave., Quezon City and 1.56-kilometer Section 5:     A. Bonifacio, Quezon City To NLEX.

Concessionare Citra Central Expressway Corporation (CCEC) has so far completed about 1-kilometer viaduct and constructed a total of 2.7-kilometer deck slab of Skyway Stage 3 Section 1.

 

Upon completion, Skyway Stage 3 will ease traffic through the eight (8) access ramps/interchanges strategically located as follows: Buendia Avenue, (South Superhighway, Makati City), Pres. Quirino Avenue (Malate, Manila), Plaza Dilao (Paco, Manila), Nagtahan/Aurora Boulevard (Manila), E. Rodriguez Avenue (Quezon City), Quezon Avenue (Quezon City), Sgt. Rivera St. (Quezon City) and NLEX.

DoTr targets common station contract award next month

THE Department of Transportation (DoTr) said the contract for the construction of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT)-Light Rail Transit (LRT) common station project is scheduled to be awarded by August.

“By August this year we will award the common station contract. We could… finish the project by 2020,” DoTr Undersecretary for Railways Timothy John R. Batan said in a media briefing in Clark on Tuesday.

Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade told reporters construction is expected to begin immediately after the awarding.

“We have two eligible contractors. What we’ll talk about now is their qualifications… their bids will be opened by end of July,” he said.

The DoTr broke ground on part of the common station in September. The original completion target for the project was 2019, but because of a failed bid in November, progress stalled.

The common station project is meant to link major commuter rail lines — LRT Line 1, MRT Line 3, and MRT Line 7, which is currently being built.

Last year, the government signed a memorandum of agreement with Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), SM Prime Holdings, Ayala Corp. and San Miguel Corp. — to settle the long-disputed location of the project. Parts of the station will be built near the SM North EDSA Annex and TriNoma mall in Quezon City.

MPIC is one of three key Philippine units of Hong-Kong based First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being Philex Mining Corp. and PLDT, Inc. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Denise A. Valdez

RMN News: DOTr, target i-award ang kontrata para sa pagpapatayo ng MRT-LRT common station

Nakatakdang i-award ng Department of Transportation (DOTr) sa susunod na buwan ang kontrata para sa pagpapatayo ng MRT-LRT common station project.

Ang MRT-LRT common station ay itatayo sa pagitan ng dalawang mall sa North Avenue, Quezon City kung saan kokonektahin nito ang apat na linya ng tren, ang LRT line 1, MRT line 3, ang MRT line 7 na kasakulukuyang under construction, maging ang Metro Manila subway.

Ayon kay Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, agad masisimulan ang konstruksyon ng common station pagkatapos mai-award ang kontrata.

Aniya, mayroon silang dalawang eligible contractors at pinag-uusapan na ang kanilang kwalipikasyon.

Bubuksan ang kanilang bid sa katapusan ng Hulyo.

Inaasahang matatapos ang proyekto sa taong 2021.

LRT common station to start construction in September

The Department of Transportation said it expects to finally start the construction of the common station linking Light Rail Transit Line 1, Metro Rail Transit Line 3 and the planned MRT 7 by September this year.

“By August, we expect to award the contract for the construction of the common station,” Transportation Undersecretary for rails Timothy John Batan said.

Batan said the construction of the project would start in September and would be completed by 2020.

The P2.8-billion common station will be financed and built by the DOTr.

The government and its private sector partners signed a memorandum of agreement in January last year for the construction of the common station.

SM Group’s Hans Sy, Ayala Corp.’s Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, San Miguel Corp.’s Ramon Ang, Metro Pacific Investments Corp.’s Manuel Pangilinan and Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade signed the memorandum of agreement to build the common station.

The MoA contains the design parameters for the common station, which will be the basis of the detailed designs that will be developed after the signing.

The location is agreed to be between the original 2009 location in front of SM Annex and the 2014 location near Trinoma mall.

The common station project started in 2009 but was put on hold due to legal issues. The Light Rail Transit Authority signed a deal with SMPHI to build the station near SM North Edsa.

Five years later, the Transportation Department decided to build the station near Ayala’s Trinoma, citing reasons to cut costs.

In June 2014, SM Prime Holdings Inc. asked the court to stop the government from building the proposed P1.4-billion common station that will link the 3 railway transits in Metro Manila at the Trinoma shopping mall owned by Ayala Land Inc. In a petition for injunction filed before the Pasay City Regional Trial Court, SM Prime also asked the court to order the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) to honor the provisions of a memorandum agreement they signed in 2009.

The court intervened and issued a temporary restraining order in favor of SMPHI to stop the construction of the project.