San Miguel Corp., through infrastructure unit San Miguel Infrastructure, said Thursday it reopened a “new” and stronger San Juan River bridge, also known as the Pinaglabanan Bridge, following reconstruction works that began late last year.
The bridge that connects Old Sta. Mesa Manila and N. Domingo in San Juan was closed on September 15 following realignment of the Skyway Stage 3 project over San Juan River.
“We would like to thank motorists for their patience while we carried out a very important work. In less than six months, we were able to rebuild the bridge to its original design, only this time it is new and stronger,” said SMC president Ramon Ang.
The Skyway Stage 3 is an elevated expressway project extending the Skyway system from Buendia in Makati City all the way to the North Luzon Expressway exit in Balintawak.
With a length of 17.93 kms., it will reduce travel time between these two points from 2 hours to 20 minutes or less.
The project is set for completion in July and is expected to significantly decongest traffic along EDSA.
Skyway Stage 3 has four sections, with Section 1 running from Buendia to Plaza Dilao, Section 2 from Plaza Dilao to Aurora Boulevard, Section 3 from Aurora Boulevard to Quezon Ave. and Section 4 from Quezon Avenue to EDSA/Balintawak.
The company plans to construct the Skyway Stage 4, a 58.09-km road from the south of Metro Manila Skyway to Batasan Complex, Quezon City.
The project aims to decongest EDSA, C5 and other major roads, while providing a faster alternative route for motorists coming from Rizal and the CALABARZON area. It is expected to be completed by 2022.
San Miguel operates the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway, the Southern Tagalog Arterial Road, South Luzon Expressway, the Skyway System and the NAIA Expressway.
San Miguel’s SMC Infrastructure is also building the 22-km Metro Rail Transit Line 7 from North Ave. in Quezon City to San Jose del Monte City in Bulacan.