Southern Tagalog Arterial Road

Southern Tagalog Arterial Road
STAR Tollway
Map of expressways in Luzon, with the Southern Tagalog Arterial Road in orange
STAR Tollway in Tanauan, Batangas
Route information
Maintained by STAR Tollway Corporation
Length	41.9 km[1] (26.0 mi)
Existed	2001–present
Component highways	R-3 R-3 E2
Restrictions	show Prohibited on expressway Motorcycles below 400cc Bicycles Tricycles Animal drawn vehicles
Major junctions
North end	E2 (South Luzon Expressway) in Santo Tomas, Batangas
	AH 26 (N1) in Santo Tomas N421 (Tanauan-Talisay National Road) in Tanauan N4 (Jose P. Laurel Highway) in Lipa
South end	N4 (Jose P. Laurel Highway) / (Batangas Port Diversion Road) in Batangas City
Location
Provinces	Batangas
Major cities	Santo Tomas, Tanauan, Lipa, Batangas City
Towns	Malvar, San Jose, Ibaan
Highway system
Roads in the Philippines Highways Expressways List

The Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (STAR),^[a] commonly known as the STAR Tollway, is a two-to-four-lane 41.9-kilometer (26.0 mi) controlled-access toll expressway in the province of Batangas in the Philippines. It is operated by STAR Infrastructure Development Corporation (STAR – IDC). The expressway is signed as E2 of the Philippine expressway network, alongside the South Luzon Expressway and unspecified portions of the Skyway. The expressway starts at the interchange with the Pan-Philippine Highway and the South Luzon Expressway in Santo Tomas and runs southward, near Diversion Road, to Batangas City. It passes through the cities and municipalities of Malvar, Tanauan, Lipa, San Jose, and Ibaan.

The expressway was opened on 2001, with its first segment built between Santo Tomas and Lipa. In 2008, it was extended toward Batangas City, and in June 2010, the South Luzon Expressway was connected to the STAR Tollway, further shortening travel time between Manila and Batangas.

With increasing traffic demand in the Batangas City – Bauan area and the Batangas Bay area, proposals to extend the expressway are laid out to decongest the existing routes through those areas. Two projects are proposed to extend the expressway to barangay Pinamucan, within Batangas City, and to the municipality of Bauan. The STAR Tollway is separate from the SLEX network despite being connected with SLEX since June 2010.

Route description[]

View north from Malvar Exit

The STAR Tollway parallels most of the route of the President Jose P. Laurel Highway, which spurs off from the Maharlika Highway at Santo Tomas towards Lipa and Batangas City, and the Ibaan-Batangas City segment of the Batangas-Quezon Road. The road mostly traverses rural barangays of the cities and municipalities it passes and also overlooks several mountains. The STAR Tollway starts as the physical extension of South Luzon Expressway past the overpass with the abandoned Philippine National Railways (PNR) branch line to Batangas City and an access road for Light Industry and Science Park III at Santo Tomas. Until June 2010, the toll road ended at Santo Tomas Exit. Spanning 22.16 kilometers (13.77 mi),^[1] the road widens for a short distance as it crosses the San Juan River and enters Tanauan, where the Sto. Tomas toll plaza is located, before narrowing back to two lanes. The road meets with Tanauan Exit, which serves the city proper of Tanauan. Past Tanauan Exit, STAR Tollway descends on a scenic curve before ascending on approach to Malvar. Entering Malvar, the road mostly passes rural areas, mostly containing large coconut plantations and small residential areas. Also, within Malvar, Mount Maculot can be seen on the right of the road and Mount Malarayat can be sighted on the left. Afterwards, it enters Lipa, and the road gradually curving before approaching Lipa Exit, which provides access to the city proper and to the nearby towns of Mataasnakahoy, Cuenca, and Alitagtag. The exit once served as the tollway's southern terminus until 2007, when STAR Tollway was extended southward towards Batangas City.

STAR Tollway in Ibaan

Past Lipa Exit, STAR Tollway is mostly dual carriageway, until it narrows in approach to Batangas City. Spanning 19.74 kilometers (12.27 mi),^[1] this segment was a two-lane expressway from its opening in 2008, until the second roadway opened on 2014. The roadways of this segment is concrete, with the southbound roadway the former two-lane expressway, that has been in bad condition with increased traffic demand.

South of Lipa Exit, the road mostly runs through the rural barangays of Lipa. Then, it curves slightly on approach to San Jose and enters Ibaan. At Ibaan Exit, the road intersects San Jose-Ibaan Road at a diamond interchange where the expressway passes above grade. Past Ibaan Exit, STAR Tollway mostly runs an arcing route, traversing several rural barangays of Ibaan and paralleling the Batangas-Quezon Road from Ibaan to Batangas City. The road narrows back to two lanes at Sabang Bridge on the Ibaan-Batangas City boundary. The approach to Batangas City from Ibaan was a site of a fatal head-on collision between a jeep and a bus, that killed 7 in January 2011.^[2] The road becomes a 3-lane road, with a concrete Jersey barrier dividing the road, ascending in a cutting before following a straight course on rolling terrain up to the STAR Tollway's southern terminus at Balagtas Rotunda. The road widens at the Batangas toll plaza (also known as Balagtas toll plaza), narrows back to 3 lanes, and ends at the Balagtas Rotunda, a roundabout with Jose P. Laurel Highway and Batangas Port Diversion Road.

History[]

Logo used from 2001–2017. Still used alternatively.

In an effort to link the different Southern Tagalog provinces to the National Capital Region, the government with the cooperation of the Provincial Government of Batangas and with the technical and country developmental assistance of the Government of Japan through the Japan Official Development Assistance, started the development of the STAR Tollway.

The STAR Tollway I, from Santo Tomas to Lipa, was opened in 2001; STAR Tollway II, from Lipa to Batangas City, opened in 2008. It was opened as part of the Road Development Project of the government, linking the South Luzon Expressway to STAR Tollway onwards to the Batangas Port in Batangas City. The travel time from Manila to Batangas City was reduced to 2 hours when STAR Tollway II opened. The STAR Tollway Project I and II were funded by Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and implemented by the Department of Public Works and Highways – Urban Roads Project Office (DPWH – URPO).

The STAR Tollway is now under the supervision of the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) and is being maintained by Star Tollway Corporation, a subsidiary of San Miguel Corporation.^[1]

Renaming[]

On February 9, 2004, Congresswoman Victoria Hernandez Reyes from the 3rd District of Batangas authored the House Bill 2753, or also known as the "Act of Renaming the Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (STAR) to Apolinario Mabini Superhighway (AMS)." On May 15, 2007, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signed and approved House Bill 2753 to rename the Southern Tagalog Arterial Road to Apolinario Mabini Superhighway, after the Filipino revolutionary and Batangas native Apolinario Mabini, and it was made into a law called the Republic Act 9462 (RA 9462).^[3]

Redevelopment[]

The Santo Tomas – Lipa segment of STAR Tollway in Malvar, before the rehabilitation project, that added an asphalt overlay on the existing roadway (2008)

Announced by the concessionaire, STAR-Infrastructure Development Corporation (SIDC), on May 16, 2013, the STAR Tollway Upgrading and Rehabilitation Project began in July 2013 as announced by SIDC president Melvin Nazareno. Under the project, the expressway undergone several upgrade and rehabilitation on its roads and facilities in order to cope with the traffic demand of the expressway. The expressway redevelopment included asphalting the Santo Tomas – Lipa segment, upgrading the Lipa – Batangas City segment to a four-lane divided expressway, improvements on the toll collection system, installation of closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras for traffic monitoring, and addition of lighting on some segments.^[4] The expansion of the Lipa–Batangas City segment commenced in June 2013, and finished in June 2015 with adding of lights.^[5]

Sabang Bridge, which connects the town of Ibaan and Batangas City, was closed to all traffic in December 2016 to repair damage of Typhoon Nina (Nock-ten), leaving Ibaan Exit to be the temporary south end of the expressway.^[6] On August 15, 2017, a partial re-opening of Sabang Bridge was conducted for Class 1 vehicles and on August 20, 2017, it was re-opened to all vehicle classes resuming full operations to and from the Batangas Exit.^[7]

Future[]

Pinamucan Bypass[]

A 10 km (6.2 mi) extension of STAR Tollway, is proposed by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Batangas as two priority projects that will benefit the province as well as Mimaropa. The proposed extension will increase economic growth in the Batangas Bay area and reduce congestion on existing roads in Batangas City. The project will cost ₱576,000,000, and will pass through the barangays of Tinga Itaas, Tinga Labac, San Pedro, Dumantay, Sampaga, Sirang Lupa, and San Isidro, all in Batangas City.^[8] The project, dubbed the Pinamucan Bypass Road^[9] is expected to be completed before 2021.^[10] Right of way acquisition and construction work began on August 21, 2018, with funding from the Batangas 2nd District engineering office.^[9]

Bauan extension[]

Another extension to Bauan, called the Batangas City–San Pascual–Bauan Road is proposed by the Department of Public Works and Highways as an alternative to the existing national road between Batangas City and Bauan. The project is expected to decongest the existing national road, whose traffic demand reached beyond capacity due to roadside establishments, industrial areas, and the Batangas Port, and increase economic development in the Batangas City–Bauan area. The proposed alignment of the toll road will start at the present terminus of STAR Tollway at barangay Balagtas, pass through the northern rural barangays of Batangas City and San Pascual, and end at the national road to Mabini at barangay Manghinao in Bauan.^[12] The proposed toll road is being constructed as an at-grade bypass only, connecting with Diversion Road, with right of way acquisition and construction works started on February 21, 2018.^[9]

Toll[]

Batangas Toll Plaza, Batangas City

The whole expressway employs a closed system, where motorists are charged based on the kilometers travelled from the entry to exit point vehicle class. Toll collection for Santo Tomas Exit, however, is done at the toll plazas located on the expressway immediately before the exit, i.e. the Sto. Tomas toll plaza for northbound motorists, the Ayala Greenfield Estate toll plaza of SLEX for southbound motorists, and vice versa for entering vehicles.^[13]

The expressway fully implements an electronic toll collection (ETC) system, the Autosweep RFID, using RFID technology.^[14] Such ETC system is shared with Skyway, SLEX, NAIAX, and TPLEX.^[15]

Exits[]

Malvar Exit

The entire route will be located in Batangas. Exits are numbered by kilometer post, with Rizal Park in Manila designated as kilometer 0. 

City/Municipality	km	mi	Exit	Name	Destinations	Notes
Santo Tomas	60	37		Santo Tomas	AH 26 (N1) – Manila, Santo Tomas, Calamba	Folded diamond/partial cloverleaf interchange; road continues north as E2 (South Luzon Expressway)
Tanauan	61	38	Sto. Tomas toll plaza (pass-thru for southbound motorists)
	65	40		Tanauan City (Sambat)	N421 (Tanauan-Talisay National Road) – Tanauan, Talisay, Laurel, Tagaytay	Diamond interchange
Malvar	70	43		Malvar (Bulihan)	Balete-Malvar Provincial Road / Pedro Montecer Street – Malvar, Balete	Diamond interchange
	75	47	Petron KM 75 service area (southbound only)
Lipa	78	48		Santo Toribio (Balete / Leviste)	F. Leviste Highway – Balete	Diamond interchange
	79	49	Petron STAR Tollway service area (northbound only)
	82	51		Lipa City (Tambo)	N4 (Jose P. Laurel Highway) – Lipa, Cuenca, Alitagtag, Mataasnakahoy	Folded diamond/partial cloverleaf interchange
	86	53	Petron KM 86 service area (northbound only)
San Jose			No major junctions
Ibaan	93	58		Ibaan (Malainin)	San Jose-Ibaan Road – Ibaan, San Jose	Diamond interchange
Ibaan – Batangas City boundary	99	62	Sabang Bridge Change to two to three-lane expressway
Batangas City				Tinga	STAR Tollway-Pinamucan Bypass	Future exit with STAR Tollway-Pinamucan Bypass Road; construction not yet started
	101	63	Batangas (Balagtas) toll plaza
	102	63		Batangas (Balagtas)	N4 (Jose P. Laurel Highway) / (Batangas Port Diversion Road) / Batangas–Balete Road – Batangas City, Batangas Port	Roundabout; South end of expressway
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Incomplete access       Tolled       Unopened

STAR Tollway-Pinamucan Bypass[]

The entire route will be located in Batangas City. 

km	mi	Destinations	Notes
		E2 (STAR Tollway)	Planned interchange and northern terminus
		(Batangas—Quezon Road)
		San Pedro Road
		Old National Road
		(Batangas—Taysan—Lobo Road) – Taysan, Lobo
		Dumuclay Road
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Unopened

Batangas City–San Pascual–Bauan Road[]

This section needs to be updated. The reason given is: The Batangas City–San Pascual–Bauan Road has been opened to public on May 13, 2021. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (May 2021)

The entire route will be located in Batangas. ^[11] 

City/Municipality	km	mi	Destinations	Notes
Batangas City			N4 (Jose P. Laurel Highway) – Manila, Batangas Port	Eastern terminus
			Batangas–Balete Road
			Banaba South
			Banaba West
San Pascual			Bayanan – Padre Castillo Road
			Aquino Avenue
			San Mateo Road
			Makalintal Avenue
			Alitagtag – San Pascual Road
Bauan			(Palico–Balayan–Batangas Road)
			Bauan – Mabini Road	Western terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Unopened

See also[]

• Transportation in the Philippines
• Department of Public Works and Highways
• Philippine National Construction Corporation

Notes[]

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Southern Tagalog Arterial Road.

• Official website
• Contractor website