BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan announced that the Cordillera Regional Development Council (RDC-CAR) and the Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC-CAR) will be tackling the snowballing clamor of motorists and residents living in the communities along the historic and scenic Kennon Road for the Cordillera office of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH-CAR) to re-open the 34-kilometer roadline to light vehicles to help ease the worsening traffic congestions along Marcos highway and other major roads leading to the city.
The local chief executive underscored the urgency of immediately re-opening the road to light vehicles to also help lessen the burden of residents living in the various communities along its stretch of having to go around the city and Marcos highway just to reach their residences and workplaces.
“We cannot blame people from the lowlands if they flock to Baguio city and Benguet to spend their weekends in the said places that is why concerned agencies and local governments must closely work together to find the needed solutions on how to provide motorists with convenient travel to and from the city and one of the best solutions that was identified by experts is for the DPWH-CAR to already open Kennon Road to light vehicles,” Domogan stressed.
Earlier, the DPWH-CAR temporarily closed Kennon Road to vehicular traffic after a series of landslide incidents triggered by continuous rains that caused the loss of a number of lives and inflicted damages to properties.
According to him, the RDC-CAR and the RPO-CAR will come out with a definite action to help convince concerned authorities to reconsider their hardline stand to continue the closure of Kennon road which had significantly affected the economy of the residents living along the road over the past several months.
He said there is merit to the clamor of various stakeholders who are affected with the closure of Kennon road to open the road to light vehicles to lessen the inconvenience of motorists going to and from Baguio city because it will create a negative perception on the status of major highways leading to the city.
Kennon Road was built by over 2,000 foreign and local laborers in 1903 and was formally opened on January 29, 1905 wherein the American government spent over $2.7 million for its construction.
Domogan stated that he had been receiving a number of complaints from motorists wanting to come up to the city to attend to various business transactions on the serious traffic congestion caused by the closure of Kennon road that is supposed to serve as the alternate of light vehicles which must be addressed by concerned government agencies but it seems there is no concrete action that is being done on the matter, thus, the need for a collegial action of the two regional bodies to send the clear message to higher authorities on the importance of heeding the call to re-open the road even for light vehicles.
The fourth quarter RDC-CAR and RPOC-CAR will be conducting its joint meeting on Thursday, December 19, 2018 which will be hosted by the local government of Baguio City.
By Dexter A. See
Banner photo by: JOSEPH B. MANZANO
