San Miguel Corp. (SMC) yesterday secured the go-ahead to start the construction of the country’s first green, hybrid highway — the P95-billion Pasig River Expressway (PAREX).
This as the Supplemental Toll Operation Agreement for the PAREX project has been signed by the Department of Transportation, Department of Public Works and Highways, Toll Regulatory Board, Philippine National Construction Corp., Pasig River Expressway Corp. and Skyway O&M.
The 19.37-kilometer, six-lane elevated road will run along the banks of the Pasig River – from Radial Road 10 (R-10) in the City of Manila to Circumferential Road 6 (C-6). It is also known as the future South East Metro Manila Expressway (SEMME) in Taguig.
But PAREX will not just be an ordinary highway, SMC said. It will be the first privately-funded road network in the country that combines sustainability features with the functionality of a safe and efficient transport infrastructure that the country is sorely lacking in.
“This will be an inclusive, user-centered infrastructure that will integrate various modes of transportation beyond cars. It will have dedicated bike lanes, walkways, a bus rapid transit system, among others,” Ramon Ang, SMC president, said.
Ang added with the company’s P2-billion Pasig River rehabilitation initiative, it is looking to expand water transport through ferry boats that will link people to cities along the waterfronts of Metro Manila — including Laguna Lake, Pasig River, Manila Bay, Marikina River, among others.
Considered biologically dead and long a symbol of urban pollution in the Philippines, the river now stands to become part of a master-planned urban redevelopment project, which will also be fully funded by SMC.
Following the government’s approval, Ang disclosed that SMC is tapping the firm of internationally-renowned architect, environment planner and green urbanism advocate Felino Palafox Jr. to help in building the PAREX project.
Palafox, acknowledged as the country’s top green urban planner, brings with him decades of experience master-planning some 1,700 projects in 45 countries.
“Together with Palafox and Associates, we will build what will be the country’s first sustainable infrastructure, one that will not just be ‘green’, but will have multiple uses and direct environmental, social, and economic benefits to Filipinos,” Ang said.
PAREX will have three major segments: Segment 1 is from R-10 to Plaza Azul in Manila, Segment 2 from Pandacan to C-5, and Segment 3 from C-5 to C-6.
It will also connect to and utilize a 2.7-km. portion of the new Skyway Stage 3 from Nagtahan to Plaza Azul.
Ang said PAREX will finally complete the long-envisioned north-south-east-west expressway connectivity for the region. With the opening of the Skyway 3 earlier this year, the Skyway System now serves as the seamless link between north and south of Metro Manila.
Once operational, PAREX will serve as the east-west connection, linking up with Skyway 3 and SEMME making virtually every major city in Metro Manila accessible via expressway.
PAREX will be purposely-built around green architecture and engineering principles, with sustainability as its key driver.
Ang explained that traffic congestion is a critical sustainability issue, especially in Metro Manila. Traffic increases the amount of harmful emissions from vehicles stuck for hours in traffic, drains economic resources and affects people’s health.
SMC through its infrastructure arm also operates major expressways in the country, including the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway, Skyway System, NAIA Expressway, South Luzon Expressway, Southern Tagalog Arterial Road and Skyway Stage 3. – Myla Iglesias
