TUBA, Benguet – The Cordillera office of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH-CAR) Assistant Regional Director Emmanuel W. Diaz headed the inspection of a section of Kennon Road with soil collapse caused by the onslaught of heavy rain recently at Camp 6,
Together with Benguet First District Engineer Isagani C. Cayme, Equipment Management Division Chief Oscar G. Guya, Maintenance Division Assistant Chief Mary Jane T. Tawana, Project Engineer Alvin M. Dulnuan, as well as BFDEO Maintenance Section Chief Severino S. Bangasan and other DPWH personnel inspected the site of the collapse, which caused the rebars of an ongoing slope protection project to fall.
Due to this, Kennon Road will remain closed to all types of vehicles until further notice. Police personnel have been deployed to manage and divert traffic. Signages about the Kennon Road closure signs have already been placed at Saytan Junction, Rosario, La Union, Loakan Junction, Military Cut-Off (Kennon Rd.) Junction and at Baguio General Hospital Junction, to inform the public that the road is not passable.
Although clearing the road closure is still the top priority, Diaz already discussed with Project Contractor Francis Cuyop, and Dulnuan the different measures to lessen the damage and to help smoothen the implementation of the project once resumed.
Moreover, residents may use the temporary alternate route alongside Bued River to go around the closed section, to which Diaz ordered the backfilling of some parts of the route to ease the passage of vehicles, as per the request of the locals. Extreme caution must be exercised when passing through this route.
All motorists are advised to use alternate routes when coming up to or leaving Baguio City, like Marcos Highway, Baguio-Bauang (Naguilian) Road, and Asin-Nangalisan Road (for light vehicles only), to exercise caution and to follow traffic rules while on the road. By DPWH-CAR