The tollway unit of San Miguel Corp. has raised its budget for the extension of South Luzon Expressway from Sto. Tomas Batangas to Lucena in Quezon province to P16.68 billion, higher by 27 percent from the original cost of P13.1 billion.
South Luzon Tollways Corp. said in a regulatory filing it was preparing the detailed engineering and the procurement of a construction contractor for the SLEx Toll Road 4 Project.
The project is divided into five sections. Section 1 covers Sto. Tomas, Batangas to Macban, Laguna (10.58 kms); Macban, Laguna to San Pablo, Laguna (12.2 kms); San Pablo, Laguna to Tiaong, Quezon (8.1 kms); Tiaong to Candelaria, Quezon (14.4 kms); and Candelaria to Lucena City, Quezon (12.31 kms).
SLTC said it planned to complete the entire project by 2019.
The four-lane, expressway project is seen to make travel to and from Southern Tagalog provinces such as Batangas, Laguna, Quezon and the Bicol region faster and safer.
The project is expected to cut travel time between Sto. Tomas and Lucena to just one hour from the usual four hours.
The SLEx-Toll Road 4 is the latest project in San Miguel’s infrastructure portfolio, which already includes the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway, the at-grade and elevated Skyway system and Skyway Stage 3, the Naia Expressway, the existing SLEx and the recently upgraded and expanded Southern Tagalog Arterial Road, or STAR Tollway.
SLTC also said its board approved a budget of P845.36 million for 2016 to repair and rehabilitate the SLEx.
SLTC has allotted P444.90 million for the repair and maintenance of SLEx, P209.36 million for the enhancement of toll collection system/traffic control and P191.10 million for various traffic improvement activities.
The company in 2015 spent P88.3 million for the repair and restoration of the toll road.
The company also procured equipment amounting to P74.2 million, which include hardware for the enhancement of the toll collection system.
SLTC reported a net income of P2.06 billion in the January-to-September period from P1.84 billion in the same period last year.
The company’s revenues from toll operations amounted to P3.55 billion in the first nine-months of last year from P3.24 billion in 2014.