Five inter-regional and inter-provincial roads in the Cordillera remain impassable because of a series of landslides and road cuts caused by the heavy rains and strong winds of Supertyphoon Egay late last month and aggravated by the prevalence of the enhanced southwest monsoon that prevailed over the past two weeks.
In an advisory, the Cordillera office of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH-CAR) disclosed that there are still two roads in Abra, another two roads in Mountain Province and a road in Apayao that are still closed to vehicular traffic because of series of landslides, collapsed pavement, among others, in intermittent sections that pose a serious threat to users.
In Abra, the Abra-Kalinga road is impassable due to series of slope collapse in various sections onwards and also the Abra-Ilocos Norte road because of a road cut and series of landslides in several sections.
The DPWH-CAR suggested that motorists plying the Abra-Ilocos Norte road should use the alternate road which is the Bangued-Pidigan-San Quintin-Narvacan-Manila North road to go to their desired destinations in Abra or Ilocos Norte.
In Mountain Province, the closed roads are the Dantay-Sagada road because of a collapsed pavement at Antadao, Sagada and the Baguio-Bontoc road which is temporarily not passable to ensure safety at Mount Data cliff section in Bauko, Mountain Province.
Motorists wanting to go to the mystical town of Sagada are advised to take the Balili-Suyo-Sagada provincial road as the alternate route while those going and out of Mountain Province are advised to take the Salin-Balicanao provincial road as alternate route for light vehicles and heavy vehicles are advised to take the Abatan- Buguias-Mankayan-Cervantes-Mountain Province road to be able to reach their e destinations.
In Apayao, the Claveria-Calanasan-Kabugao road remains closed because of series of soil collapse at Ninoy/Kabugawan/Namaltugan, Calanasan and road cut at Ninoy, Calanasan and washed out bridge at Sugoc bridge, among others.
On the other hand, Kennon road, the shortest route from the lowlands to Baguio city and vice versa, remains closed to traffic but is passable to residents living in the communities along the roadline and essential workers only.
Alternate routes leading to Baguio City are Marcos highway, Baguio-Bauang road and Asin-Nangalisan-San Pascual-La Union boundary road.
The DPWH-CAR disclosed that all national roads in Baguio, Benguet, except Kennon road, Ifugao and Kalinga are passable to all types of vehicles.
Further, motorists were advised to take the necessary precautions when traveling along the various roads in the region or if possible, avoid unnecessary travel to ensure their safety.
Some of the earlier reported road closures are one lane passable or punch-through open because of the availability of the units of heavy equipment to continuously clear the roads from the debris caused by the weather disturbance.
