Skyway’s Alabang-Zapote northbound ramp open only from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. starting Feb. 1

Skyway O&M Corp. on Tuesday advised motorists that the ramp from Alabang-Zapote road will be open for limited hours to give way to the construction of the Skyway extension project.

In an advisory, the company said beginning February 1, the said Skyway ramp will be operational only during rush hours or from 5 a.m to 9 a.m.

“From 9 a.m. to 5 a.m., when traffic volume on the ramp is not as high, it will be closed to traffic to give way to construction work in the area,” it said.

Northbound motorists coming from Alabang-Zapote road are advised to take the Filinvest entry to the South Luzon Expressway as an alternative.

“The implementation of the scheme was agreed upon by Skyway, the Muntinlupa Traffic Management Bureau and Filinvest Alabang, Inc. (FAI),” Skyway O&M said.

The scheme was originally announced for implementation last December, but was suspended due to high traffic volume in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

Skyway O&M said that initially, motorists can expect slow-moving or heavy traffic, but that they expect this to ease once  more people become aware of the closure and can make the necessary adjustments.

The company also said that personnel on the ground can make judgement calls on suspending construction work and reopening the lanes if traffic volume is extremely high.

“We understand that this is an inconvenience for many of our motorists, and we’d like to again ask for your patience and support. We monitor traffic 24/7 and we assure you we will do all we can to make traffic manageable,” San Miguel president Ramon Ang said.

“However, we all know that we have a big task at hand here, and that is to build a long-term solution to the traffic situation in the south. Your cooperation and continued observance of traffic rules and safety will be a big help towards realizing this goal,” he added.

San Miguel Corp. is the parent firm of Skyway O&M.

Skyway O&M said it earlier served advance notice to the public for the closure of one southbound lane of Skyway at-grade, the northbound lane of the West Service road, and the Alabang southbound exit and Bunye southbound exit toll plazas, starting February 16.

The lane closures will last until Mar. 30, 2020.

This is to give way to bored piling and column installation, which were also deferred from the original December 2019 schedule, it said.

Skyway, the Muntinlupa City Government, and Filinvest, likewise released alternate traffic schemes using primarily the Filinvest exit, it added. —Ted Cordero/LDF, GMA News