Taguig City, Philippines – True to its promise of a better road network, the newly-opened CAVITEX C5-Link Flyover now caters to more motorists resulting to traffic decongestion and faster travel time surpassing previous forecast a month after it was opened to the public.
Department of Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar forecast an average of 8,000 vehicles to pass through the newly-opened flyover the night it was opened. A month after, estimated average daily traffic rose up to 14,000 on weekdays and 11,000 on weekends for both Taguig and Merville Toll Plaza. Taguig being the recipient of most number of vehicles.
Meanwhile, the CAVITEX C5 Link Expressway is anticipated to bring relief to about 50,000 vehicles once constructed.
A motorist’s usual travel time takes 1.5 hours from Villamor Air Base just to cross to Merville in Parañaque City. With the new flyover, travel time was recorded to trim down to just 45 minutes. Vehicular traffic was seen to gradually reduce during peak hours in Sales interchange near Villamor Airbase, SLEX East, West Service Roads and EDSA.
The 16-billion, 2.2-kilometer flyover is the first section of CAVITEX C5 Link crossing South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) traversing Taguig and Pasay City. The thoroughfare was officially opened for public use on July 23 headed by Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the concessionaire Cavitex Infrastructure Corporation (CIC) with its mother company, Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC) and Philippine Reclamation Authority, its joint venture partner.
For now, motorists plying between Fort Bonifacio, C.P. Garcia (C5), Taguig City, Parañaque City, Las Piñas City and Pasay City are free to access the new flyover. More motorists are encouraged to experience and enjoy travelling South using the flyover while it’s free. Moreover, customers can visit dedicated stations on the flyover to avail their Easytrip RFID installations for seamless travel.
The Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) has yet to release the new toll fare matrix. An advisory to customers will be released once the approved fees are posted.
MPTC boasts a wide network of toll roads with the concessions of CAVITEX and Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAX) in the South of Metro Manila. It also has North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), the Subic-Clark Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX), the NLEX Connector Road, and the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX) in Cebu in its portfolio.
In photo: Taguig Toll plaza to service Class 1, 2 and 3 vehicles for free for a month
In photo: Motorists can drop by and visit Easytrip stations for RFID installations
In photo: Traffic build-up in Villamor Airbase during peak hours (Photo was taken at 6:30 AM)