MANILA, Philippines — Dramatically improved traffic conditions in Metro Manila is a promise the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said it would keep for the Christmas season this year.

“This 2020, by this Christmas, Christmas will be very happy for our countrymen. The landscape of Metro Manila will be changed completely,” DPWH Secretary Mark Villar said.

Traffic conditions on Metro Manila roads are usually at their worst during the holiday season, but Villar is confident this year will be the turning point, when traffic congestion on EDSA will finally be solved.

“This year will be a turnaround year for Metro Manila. This is the year that we will decongest EDSA,” he said.

Villar is counting on two major projects that will open this year to ease the traffic bottleneck plaguing motorists on EDSA. These are Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC)’s NLEX Harbor Link Segment 10 and San Miguel Corp. (SMC)’s Skyway Stage 3 project.

The NLEX Harbor Link C3-R10 Section is now 90 percent complete and is on track to open this month.

The new elevated expressway will reduce travel time between NLEX and R10 in Navotas City from 60 minutes to 10 minutes, ensuring timely delivery of goods to and from the ports of Manila.

It is projected to divert 30,000 vehicles daily away from the traffic choke points of Metro Manila.

“But what’s more than the 30,000 is that not all of those are cars. Most of those are trucks, so imagine the impact that this project will have in the landscape of Metro Manila,” Villar said.

“In a few months, we’ll open another project that will relieve EDSA of another 100,000 vehicles,” he said, referring to SMC’s Skyway Stage 3 project.

The Skyway Stage 3 was previously targeted to open by April, but construction encountered a setback following a fire last month that resulted in the collapse of a portion of the tollway.

SMC has assured the public that the company is working double time to fast-track construction and make sure that Skyway Stage 3 opens by July.

The project was designed to eliminate choke points and provide motorists seamless connection between the north and south. It stretches from Gil Puyat Avenue in Makati to San Juan, Manila and Quezon City all the way to the North Luzon Expressway.

Once completed, it would reduce travel time to and from Buendia and Balintawak to only 15 minutes.