Southern Tagalog Arterial Road

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 west of the road and Mount Malarayat can be sighted on the east. 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. 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.

Logo used from 2001 to 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]

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]

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 is done upon exit at STAR Tollway, SLEX, or MCX or at Skyway's Main toll plaza.[13][14][15]

The expressway fully implements an electronic toll collection (ETC) system, the Autosweep RFID, using RFID technology.[16] Such ETC system is shared with Skyway, SLEX, NAIAX, TPLEX, and MCX.[17]

The Southern Tagalog Arterial Road currently has three service areas, all of which are Petron stations, with two on the northbound and one on the southbound. The service areas also provide ETC reloading for Autosweep RFID users.

The entire route is located in Batangas. Exits are numbered by kilometer post, with Rizal Park in Manila designated as kilometer 0. Kilometer count begins at kilometer post 60 at Santo Tomas. 

City/Municipality	km	mi	Exit	Name	Destinations	Notes
Santo Tomas	60	37		Santo Tomas	AH 26 (N1) (Maharlika Highway) – Manila, Santo Tomas, Calamba	Folded diamond interchange; northern terminus; continues north as E2 (South Luzon Expressway)
Tanauan	61	38	Sto. Tomas Toll Plaza (pass-thru)
	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 interchange; former southern terminus (2001-2008)
	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
Batangas City				Tinga	N435 (Batangas–Ibaan Road) / STAR Tollway-Pinamucan Bypass	Future trumpet interchange
	101	63	Batangas (Balagtas) Toll Plaza
	102	63		Batangas (Balagtas)	N4 (Jose P. Laurel Highway) / N434 (Batangas Port Diversion Road) / Batangas–Balete Road – Batangas City, Batangas Port	Roundabout; southern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Incomplete access        Tolled       Unopened

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

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