Upgrades to the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) are on track to be completed by the end of the year, including expansion of its 36.1-kilometer main carriageway to six lanes each side, and enhancements to its cashless toll collection system that will allow for barrier-less toll plazas.
The upgrades are part of concession holder SMC SLEX Inc.’s continuing efforts to future-proof the tollway that serves as the main expressway in Region 4A, which contributes about 1/5 of the country’s gross domestic product.
SMC SLEX said that some 20 bridges along the SLEX carriageway are also currently being expanded, to further prevent traffic bottlenecks that result to vehicle buildup and slowdowns.
The expansion of these bridges aligns with the new six-by-six lane configuration of the carriageway to accommodate increasing vehicle traffic in SLEX, which serves high growth provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, and Quezon.
“SMC SLEX Inc. understands the importance of SLEX in supporting the growth trajectory of the Calabarzon Region, which accounts for about 20% of the country’s GDP,” the company said in a statement. “Once the facility upgrades are completed, it will improve the quality of travel of the general motoring public, and result to faster movement of goods and services as well.”
SMC SLEX also reiterated its commitment to continue investing on service improvements as it has throughout the last decade.
Seamless southern tollways
In 2022, the company implemented the Seamless Southern Tollways project, which reduced the number of stops motorists had to do when traveling along the Skyway System, SLEX, and Star Tollway.
The project likewise led to the decommissioning of the Calamba Main Toll Plaza–which used to be the terminus of SLEX–and SLEX Greenfield Toll Plaza, the terminus of Toll Road 3, which connects SLEX to Star Tollway at Sto. Tomas, Batangas.
Currently, the toll plazas are pass-through lanes and are scheduled to be demolished in line with the SLEX widening project.
New innovations
The company has also equipped entry toll plazas along SLEX with automatic license plate readers (ALPR) which reduce the need for barriers there. The upgrades are likewise in line with the government’s directive to implement contactless toll collection and barrier-less plazas along expressways.
Along with RFID tags, ALPR cameras cross-reference the entry and exit of vehicles by reading and recording their license plates for accurate charging of their toll.
The company is also upgrading its servers to further improve their capacity to handle the growing number of vehicles using the facility.
