PCCI pushes for Manila Port-Skyway Stage 3 link

Metro Manila SkyWay (roadway-technology.com)

MANILA — The country’s largest business organization Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) is pushing for a direct road connection of the Port of Manila to Skyway Stage 3 Project which can ease road congestion in the National Capital Region.

PCCI President Alfredo M. Yao said that since almost half of delivery trucks from the Port of Manila are heading to North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) and South Luzon Expressway (SLEX), an elevated link to these expressways from Manila Port through the Skyway Stage 3 Project will drastically contribute to reducing travel time for delivery trucks as well as easing port and road congestion.

The Skyway Stage 3 Project will connect NLEX and SLEX by 2017.

“It will give 24/7 access to trucks and other vehicles travelling along the stretch of North Boulevard and R-10 to the Skyway Stage 3 project,” said Yao.

He mentioned that the PCCI wrote to the Toll Regulatory Board Executive Director Edmundo O. Reyes Jr. to consider the direct link of the Port of Manila to Skyway Stage 3 and approve the early implementation of the proposal.

“Our membership is concerned over the repeat of the port congestion last 2014 resulting in business losses amounting to PhP70 billion if no new road infrastructures are put in place in the medium term,” he said.

“Continuity of business is key to PCCI. By accelerating the movement of raw materials and finished goods to and from the ports, we are certain that this proposed project would increase productivity and propel the growth of our economy,” the PCCI chief added.

“From our point of view, the so-called port congestion is only the result of the real problem of road congestion,” Yao said.

According to the study of the Japan International Cooperation Agency in 2013, the worsening traffic in Metro Manila cost the economy an estimated of PhP140 billion annually.