BAGUIO CITY – The City Council approved a resolution requesting President Rodrigo R. Duterte to negotiate in behalf of the local government of Baguio with the State-run government Service Insurance System (GSIS) to utilize their lot located at DPS-Marcoville barangays as central bus terminal of the city with amenities such as but not limited to toilets, coffee shops and souvenir shops.
The resolution authored by Councilor Maria Mylen Victoria G. Yaranon stated that relocating the central bus terminal from its existing site along Gov. Pack Road to DPS-Marcoville barangays will make the traffic flow smooth in the said roadline and will subsequently make the GSIS lot productive in the future considering that there will be enhanced commercial activities in the said area triggered by the presence of south-bound buses in the area.
The resolution added that the lot owned by GSIS in DPS-Marcoville baragnays is reportedly idle for decades now despite its being ideal to be utilized as a central bus terminal that will cater to the need for additional spaces for the increasing number of south-bound buses serving the needs of both residents and visitors flocking to the city during weekends and holidays.
Yaranon asserted that traffic congestions cause daily economic losses that must be immediately addressed by the concerned government agencies and the local government to provide convenient and stress-free travel around the city to enhance the productivity of people.
“Roads make a crucial contribution to economic development and growth and bring important social benefit to the people. They are of vital importance to make a nation grow and develop. In addition, providing access to employment, social, health, and education services makes a road network crucial in fighting poverty,” Yaranon stressed.
The resolution stipulated numerous buses unload and load passengers and turn along Gov. Pack Road causing heavy traffic congestion in the area that often result to the occurrence of untoward incidents that lead to serious inconvenience among motorists passing through the area.
She claimed that Gov. Pack Road is a main thoroughfare going in and out of the city’s central business district, passage way of thousands of students enrolled in the different public and private education institutions, and a shorter way for ambulances, fire trucks and police cars responding to emergency situations or attending to the needs of people needing assistance from the concerned authorities.
Currently, the city’s existing central bus terminal is located along Gov. Pack Road with more than 5 bus companies operating from Baguio City to other key destinations in the different parts of northern and central Luzon as well as Metro Manila and vice versa, thus, the traffic in the area could be at its worst during the peak tourism months and weekends where people flock to the city to spend a well-deserved break and escape from the scorching heat of the lowlands this summer.
The GSIS property has been idle for several decades now despite certain offers from the public and private sectors to purchase the same to maximize its use that will contribute in addressing the problems of the local government in terms of the absence of a central bus terminal and adequate parking spaces to cater to the rapidly increasing volume of motor vehicles flocking to the city because of the shortened travel time as a result of the construction of the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX). By Dexter A. See
