Baguio City – Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan urged the City Buildings and Architecture Office (CBAO) to prioritize the finalization of the plans and specifications of the proposed multi-level parking structure that will be erected in the vacant lot near the Baguio fire department.
The local chief executive underscored the importance of putting up the multi-level parking structure funded by available local funds to provide adequate parking spaces for government vehicles and clients of the different offices situated within the main building of city hall.
“We have to fastrack the finalization of the plans and specifications of the proposed multi-level parking structure so that we will be able to decongest the present parking spaces around the city hall building and to provide additional spaces for the increasing number of personnel in various departments of the local government,” Domogan stressed.
City Building Official Engr. Nazita Bañez informed Mayor Domogan that the plans for the parking structure will be available the soonest considering that the complete plans for the whole structure will take some time to be completed.
The CBAO chief said that part of the plans will be the inclusion of the offices of the Baguio fire department aside from the possible relocation of the legislative department to the said structure to contribute in efforts to ease the present congestions in the main city hall building.
Part of the priority projects included by the local government in its Annual Investment Plan (AIP) for this year is the construction of a multi-level parking structure in the vacant lot near the Baguio fire department with an estimated cost of P210 million.
According to the mayor, once the put up of the structure will be completed, government vehicles that are parked in the premises of city hall will be relocated in the said area to allow the existing parking spaces around the city hall to be used by customers of the different offices to correct the impression of the public that taxpayers are being deprived of parking slots.
He pointed out the local government is doing its best to come up with short, medium and long-term solutions to the city’s parking woes apart from the fact that local officials are soliciting the inputs of concerned stakeholders on how to ease the worsening problem on the inadequate parking areas around the city.
Aside from working out the put up of the government-funded parking structure within a government property, Domogan added private individuals and institutions with available spaces could also open their areas for pay parking purposes to help augment the existing public and private parking areas around the central business district area.
He also claimed that the local government will pursue the put up of the proposed multi-level parking structure in the Ganza parking area or in the old city orchidarium to provide more parking spaces for residents and visitors alike to allow them to conveniently roam around the city and enjoy their visit to the parks and other tourist destinations.
For the past several years, the local government has been setting its sights on potential areas where it could build multi-level parking structures that will provide motorists with adequate parking spaces but such plans have yet to be realized considering the various oppositions being raised against the said project. By Dexter A. See