LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Concerned Balili barangay officials and officers of the La Trinidad Municipal Police Station (LTMPS) recommended the continued implementation of one-way traffic along the newly opened Pines Park bridge in Km. 4 to avoid traffic congestions anytime of the day.
Mayor Romeo K. Salda said that he received the recommendations from the barangay officials and the LTMPS that evaluated the implementation of a two-way traffic scheme in the area for five days last month to guide decision and policy makers on the appropriate traffic scheme that may be enforced thereat to avoid the traffic congestion, especially since that the area is a busy intersection where motorists and pedestrians usually converge.
“We will implement a one-way traffic scheme along the Pines Park bridge while we will allow a two-way traffic flow along the alternate route in Tebteb to provide motorists with alternative routes to take when going in and out of Pines Park,” Mayor Salda stressed.
However, the municipal chief executive claimed that the local government will try to work on the construction of a sidewalk for pedestrian use in a feasible area before the bridge to prevent people from obstructing further the smooth flow of in-bound vehicles.
During the implementation of the experimental two-way traffic along the Pines Park bridge, traffic experts observed that congestions usually transpire when out-bound vehicles go to separate directions that tend to clog the entrance preventing in-bound vehicles from traversing the area, aggravated by the huge number of pedestrians going in and out of the area.
According to the mayor, the two-way traffic scheme along the Pines Park bridge will be subjected to experiment once the municipal government shall have completed the construction of the pedestrian sidewalks to ensure that people will not contribute in the congestion of the place.
He pointed out that the problem with the proposed expropriation of some portions of the properties of the two families situated on both sides of the bridge is the time element, aside from the absence of sufficient funds to compensate the portions of the properties that will be taken by the government but this remains to be one of the available options to be able to extend the bridge to connect with the Halsema highway.
Residents of barangays Lubas and Balili who have been affected by the prolonged closure of the Pines Park bridge to pave the way for its re-building and concreting of its embankment appealed for the experimental implementation of a two-way vehicular traffic in the newly reopened bridge which was realized last May 27-31, 2024.
Salda appealed to the affected residents to bear with the inconvenience caused by the implementation of the one-way traffic scheme along Pines Park bridge because it is the most feasible scheme at present while the municipal government will work on other measures that will ensure the smooth flow of vehicular and pedestrian traffic in the area.
He urged the vehicle owners to make use of the alternate route in sitio Tebteb which will be on a two-way traffic based on the findings and recommendations of barangay officials and traffic experts that assessed and evaluated the situation during the experiment of the two-way traffic scheme along the bridge. By Dexter A. See