I came to know of this route on March 1 (Friday). I needed to advise my boss, Ed Delgado, on how best for us to bring about 50 people in about eight cars to a place near Evercrest in Nasugbu, Batangas for our much-anticipated weekend activity.
As it turned out, the alternate route is not an entirely new road all the way to Tagaytay, which is a bit of a disappointment to me. It just bypasses the portion of the Sta. Rosa ñ Tagaytay Road from the Sta. Rosa Exit to the intersection right beside Paseo de Sta. Rosa. If you are not familiar with Paseo de Sta. Rosa, it is the commercial complex near the Sta. Rosa Estates subdivision. Maybe you are more familiar with the Caltex gasoline station in the same intersection.
If you have been to Tagaytay via Sta. Rosa many times, especially recently, you will agree that this new route is a welcome news. Traffic in the abovementioned stretch of road can be a real pain in the a**. And if you are the one who is doing the driving all or most of the time (like me, sigh) then you know that I mean that quite literally.
This new alternate route is maybe twice as long as the stretch it bypasses. But you will be in Paseo de Roxas in no time. When traffic is at its peak in the original route the new route may easily save you at least 15 minutes. Can be much, much more.
Here’s how to go through this new route:
After passing Sta. Rosa exit in SLEX south-bound, you will see signages of the new exit: Eton City Greenfield. It should be difficult to miss with all of those signages. Nevertheless, some ìmore permanentî landmarks should still help. There’s the Nissan compound to the right of the road. I used to give this as a landmark to signify that you have already missed the Sta. Rosa exit. The Eton City Greenfield development starts immediately after the Nissan compound. There are more signages that announce this.
After the toll booths, you just follow the road signs. You will end up in an intersection with traffic lights. You should find this place very familiar. Paseo de Roxas is to your left. Also to your left but beyond the intersection is the Caltex gasoline station. Further ahead are the now familiar roofs of the Sta. Rosa Estate houses.
Turn left when the traffic light indicates that it is your turn to go. You are now in the familiar Sta. Rosa ñ Tagaytay Road. Enjoy the rest of the trip and drive safely.
By the way, I got the relevant details of this new route through the help of some of my good friends and former colleagues in AAP: Jun Espino and Mark Desales of AAP Motorsports; Mon Pausanos from the AAP Executive Office, who will be a dad soon; and Junep Ocampo who provides editorial services to AAP’s membership newsletter, among other things, and who also happens to live somewhere in Laguna. #
