First segment of C5 South Link to open next month

MANILA, Philippines — The first segment of the 7.7-kilometer C5 South Link, which connects C5 Road in Taguig to Merville in Parañaque, is set to be opened on July 23, the head of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said.

“We are fasttracking construction to be able to open the 2.2-km segment 3A1 toward the end of July, to immediately alleviate congestion and enable motorists to easily cross from Merville, Parañaque to Taguig and vice versa,” DPWH Secretary Mark Villar said during the ocular inspection of the segment yesterday.

He said the alignment features the bridge that crosses over Skyway at-grade and SLEX and aims to decongest Sales Road, as well as the East and West Service Roads.

“Vehicular traffic spends about 1.5 hours just to cross from Villamor to Taguig via Fort Bonifacio. This section alone will help about 5,000 vehicles easily cross in under three minutes,” Villar added.

The DPWH chief said toll for the first segment is targeted to be priced between P20 to P22.

The P10-billion C5 South Link spans from CP Garcia in Taguig to Sucat, Parañaque and will seamlessly connect Cavitex via Merville and Sucat.

It is composed of two segments, namely Segment 2 from Cavitex to Sucat, and Segment 4 which will continue to Sucat, Parañaque, Pasay Las Piñas, crossing over SLEX and the Skyway at-grade to CP Garcia Ave in Taguig and vice versa.

Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. subsidiary Cavitex Infrastructure Corp., the private concessionaire of the project, said the C5 SouthLink will benefit about 50,000 in key areas of Metro Manila such as Makati, Taguig, Las Piñas, Pasay and Parañaque.

“When completed, C5 South Link will seamlessly connect C5 and Cavitex via Merville and Sucat. C5 South Link from CP Garcia, Taguig when connected to Cavitex, Parañaque maybe be traversed under 10 minutes,” CIC president and general manager Bobby Bontia said.

The C5 South Link was originally targeted to be completed in 2022. However, Villar said they are fasttracking construction of the project and is now set to be finished by the fourth quarter of 2021.

MPTC is a subsidiary of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. Aside from the Cavitex-CALAX network of toll roads, other projects in its portfolio include the NLEX, SCTEX as well as current construction projects such as the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway in Cebu.