Slex
The South Luzon Expressway (SLEX), signed as E2 of the Philippine expressway network and R-3 of the Metro Manila arterial road network, is a controlled-access highway that connects Metro Manila to the provinces in the Calabarzon, Mimaropa and Bicol Region on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. The expressway has a length of 49.56 km (30.80 miles), traveling from its northern terminus at the Magallanes Interchange in Makati to its southern terminus at Santo Tomas, Batangas, connecting it to the Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (STAR Tollway). A portion of the expressway from the Magallanes Interchange to the Calamba Exit is part of Asian Highway 26 of the Asian highway network. It will be the longest expressway in the Philippines starting with the completion of Toll Road 4 surpassing the Subic–Clark–Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) as well as providing a gateway to Visayas upon the completion of Toll Road 5.
The expressway also serves as a major utility corridor, carrying various high voltage overhead power lines and an oil pipeline. Notable power lines using the expressway's right of way for most or part of their route are the Sucat–Paco–Araneta–Balintawak transmission line, and the Biñan–Calamba and Calamba–Bay lines. The Magallanes–Alabang section of the expressway was also used to carry the Batangas–Pandacan oil pipeline. It is also one of the four expressways serving as the airplanes' northbound airway of domestic flights leading to Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) coming from Visayas and Mindanao along with STAR Tollway, Manila–Cavite Expressway (CAVITEX), and Metro Manila Skyway.
The expressway was built in 1969 to develop areas adjacent to Metro Manila, particularly the south. The original route spanning from Magallanes, Makati, to Alabang, Muntinlupa, was extended to Laguna in 1978. In 1995, the Magallanes–Alabang section became part of the Skyway System's at-grade section. Rehabilitation efforts on the expressway followed, lasting from 2006 to 2009.
Additionally, it is connected to the Southern Tagalog Arterial Road in Batangas since the second quarter of 2008 when the Toll Road 3 project (Calamba–Santo Tomas) reached the said expressway. The connection started construction in 2007 concurrent to the 3-year 2006–2009 rehabilitation of existing portions of the expressway until Calamba, Laguna, inaugurated on June 15, 2010, and opened to the traffic six months after its inauguration on December 15, 2010. Operations were transferred from Philippine National Construction Corporation (PNCC) to the South Luzon Tollways Corporation (SLTC) and Manila Toll Expressway Systems (MATES) on May 2, 2010.
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