Toll collection at main toll plaza effective May 17

If you’re reading this and you’re going south for the weekend, then prepare to spend some more time in heavy traffic at the Skyway-NAIAX interchange area at peak hours.

SMC Tollways have temporarily reactivated the Newport toll plaza to collect payment for vehicles going to Pasay, Paranaque and Las Pinas. This is to give way to expansion works at the toll booths on the exit ramps of CAVITEX, Entertainment City, Macapagal, Terminal 2, and Sucat. The new scheme is effective starting today, May 17.

If we remember a little over a month ago, SMC Tollways relocated the toll barriers at the CAVITEX, Entertainment City, Macapagal, Terminal 2, and Sucat off-ramps and made the main toll plaza at Newport pass thru. When they implemented this scheme, the solution proved to be effective in reducing traffic buildup from the toll plaza near Newport Resorts Manila where the queue used to stretch all the way to Magallanes, Makati.

But while that’s the case at one area of the expressway, the relocation of the toll barriers meant congestion became worse at the busiest exits of NAIAX, particularly at the CAVITEX exit.

As of this writing, SMC Tollways have not announced until when will they keep collecting toll payments at the Newport toll plaza, but they are reminding motorists to ensure they have sufficient Autosweep load and their cards ready in case of manual scanning to avoid further delays.

The toll barrier in the opposite direction for vehicles going to Terminal 3, Sales/BGC, South Luzon Expressway (SLEX), EDSA, and Skyway Stage 3, remains the same.

Hopefully, the expansion works would be enough to keep traffic flowing on the exits once it’s done. But more importantly, NAIAX also needs their RFID scanners to read faster to reduce delays at the toll booths.

naiax naiax toll booth smc tollways