The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) has expressed support for a proposed elevated expressway, hoping it will head off another congestion crisis at Manila port.
“Our membership is concerned over the repeat of the 2014 port congestion that resulted in business losses amounting to PHP70 billion (USD1.55 billion) if no new road infrastructures are put in place in the medium term,” PCCI president Alfredo M Yao said.
“From our point of view, the so-called port congestion is only the result of the real problem of road congestion,” Yao added, ahead of urging early approval and implementation of the Skyway.
Yao made his comments in a letter to Edmundo O Reyes, Jr executive director of the Toll Regulatory Board, which was made public.
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The board is deliberating on whether or not to approve a proposed expressway that would give round-the-clock access to trucks using North Boulevard and R-10 to the Skyway Stage 3 project.
As and when it is completed, Skyway Stage 3, would link the North and South Luzon expressways from Buendia in Makati to Balintawak in Caloocan City.
Almost half of the trucks from Manila Port would use the proposed elevated link to Stage 3 so benefiting from considerably reduced travel times to destinations outside the capital.
“Traffic volumes on the streets of Metro Manila, even in the hours when trucks are banned, would also be cut by almost half,” Yao said.
This post was sourced from IHS Maritime 360: View the original article here.
