BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan disclosed the technical working group (TWG) that was earlier tasked to study the feasibility of putting up a multi-level pay parking facility within the Ganza area is inclined to recommend the construction of a 4-storey structure to help significantly address the parking woes of the city.
The city mayor said the TWG members headed by City Engineer Leo C. Bernardez, Jr. went to visit the different feasible pay parking facilities in the different parts of the archipelago in order to study and evaluate what would be the most feasible structure to be erected on the Ganza parking area in order to maximize its utilization as an income-generating project of the city government.
“We directed the TWG members to finalize their recommendations so that we will be able to formulate the needed plans in order to utilize the capacity of the area to accommodate a huge portion of vehicles that will be parked on the area,” Domogan stressed.
It can be recalled that the city government took over the operation of the Ganza parking area after the Supreme Court (SC) ruled against the presence of the Jadewell Parking Systems Corporation which was earlier commissioned by the city government to operate the pay parking facility through a 12-year contract.
At the same time, the local chief executive also directed the TWG to finalize the terms of reference (TOR) for the possible privatization of the pay parking facility through the government’s private-public partnership (PPP) that will contribute in reducing the number of motor vehicles that are illegally parked along major roads in the central business district that contribute in constricting traffic, especially during rush hours.
According to him, the establishment of a 4-storey structure for pay parking purposes is just part of the short-term solution envisioned by the local government in order to effectively and efficiently address the rampant illegal parking around the central business district which was pinpointed as one of the major causes of traffic jams.
The Ganza portion of the Burnham Park has been previously pinpointed as the one that will be utilized for the operation of a pay parking facility considering its proximity to the public market and other major establishments within the central business district of the city.
For the past several decades, the absence of a sufficient parking facility had greatly contributed to the occurrence of monstrous traffic congestions around the city because even no parking areas are being used for parking by unscrupulous vehicle owners.
Domogan cited the proposal to declare some roads within the Burnham Park as no parking areas would be feasible once the city will be able to put up the appropriate structure in the identified pay parking area so that it can accommodate the huge volume of vehicles that will be displaced from the roadsides.
He admitted there is inadequate space in the city which could be used primarily for pay parking purposes, thus, there is a need for the local government to consider the construction of multi-level parking structures as one of the stop gap measures to contribute in efforts to address the worsening illegal parking along major roads that contribute to traffic jams, especially during rush hours.