PGMA SLEX-STAR project now operational -- Esperon

Some of the priority programs and projects that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo identified in last year’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) are now functional and fueling economic activities in many parts of the country, Presidential Management Staff (PMS) Director General Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said today.

In a press briefing at the Manila Ocean’s Park today, Esperon particularly cited the South Luzon Expressway- Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (SLEX-STAR) project, which is now 99.9 percent complete and fully operational.

With the completion of SLEX, Star 1 & 2, the traffic situation from Alabang Viaduct to Sto. Tomas, Batangas onwards to Batangas City and vice versa has improved a lot, providing smooth travel and efficient delivery of goods from Southern Luzon to Metro Manila.

The project consists of the following: Toll Road 1 (Alabang Viaduct), Toll Road 2 (Sta. Rosa-Calamba in Laguna) and Toll Road 3 (Calamba-Sto. Tomas, Batangas) which will directly connect SLEX to STAR. STAR Tollway is composed of STAR 1, the 22.16 kilometer four-lane road from Sto. Tomas to Lipa City which was completed in 2000, and STAR 2, the 19.74 kilometer four-lane asphalt concrete surface from Lipa City to Batangas City.

Esperon said the project provides positive impact to the people’s lives and the country’s overall economy as it opens a new center of business and commerce in the South, thereby decongesting Metro Manila.

He assured that before the President ends her term in 2010, all her big infrastructure projects will be completed by the end of the year.

“President Arroyo wants the priority infrastructure programs and projects, or those identified in her SONA to be completed this year. That’s what we will do,” Esperon said. [top]