LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – The long overdue overpass in the municipality will soon be realized soonest with the projected construction of the proposed Y-shape overpass in Km. 5 by the third week of this month under the hospices of the public works department.
Mayor Romeo K. Salda said that the implementing agency already conducted consultations with concerned sectors in the municipality relative to the upcoming start of the construction of the overpass to ensure that the public will be ready for whatever inconvenience that will be caused by the project.
“The overpass project will be implemented simultaneous with the proposed concreting of the stretch from Km. 3 to Km. 5. We appeal to the public for their utmost understanding and patience in bearing with the inconvenience that will be caused to them by the simultaneous implementation of the two projects. We actually need everyone’s cooperation in this endeavor,” Mayor Salda stressed.
Earlier, the public works earmarked some P120 million for the concreting of the 2-kilometer stretch of Halsema highway from K. 3 to Km. 5 and a still undetermined amount for the put up of the proposed Y-shape overpass that will be at the junction of Km. 5 and Pico roads.
The local chief executive claimed that the Y-shape overpass project was providing funds because the affected property owners allowed portions of their properties be encroached by some posts of the structure that will be constructed while the proposed overpass in Km. 6 was not provided with the necessary funds because the affected property owners did not yet give their consent for their properties to be traversed by the project.
According to him, the contractor of the concreting project assured concerned sectors that at least 120 meters of the project will be completed daily to ensure that it will be completed before the end of the year pursuant to the implementing agency’s cash-based budgeting where funds earmarked for programs, projects and activities should be used within the calendar year.
The mayor claimed that the local government and concerned sectors will do their part in closely monitoring the implementation of the two major projects in the municipality to ensure that the contractors will work double time because of the enormous effect that the projects will entail to the convenience of the public.
The proposed Y-shape overpass is envisioned to significantly reduce the monstrous traffic congestions in the said intersection of the town’s two major roads and prevent the pedestrians from being exposed to the occurrence of untoward incidents that may compromise life and limb, especially when crossing the busy streets.
In the mid-1990s, the construction of a flyover in the intersection of Halsema highway and Pico road right at Kim. 5 was proposed by experts to address the worsening traffic congestion in the area caused by the increasing volume of vehicles and pedestrians due to the migration of people in the province’s capital town.
However, the said proposal has been shelved for various reasons that paved the way for the local government and concerned sectors to push for the construction of an overpass in the same area to allow pedestrians to use the same while the roads will be exclusively devoted for the use of vehicles traversing the busy areas of the municipality. By Dexter A. See
Long overdue. The location of the old Trading Post is what I would think the number one reason of the traffic congestion we have all been experiencing in La Trinidad all year round. We need something like MMDA or BLISTTDA so that any developments in mind would be a collective one, not just for Baguio but for the entire BLISTT. We are all connected. If there is traffic congestion in Baguio, La Trinidad and nearby towns would feel it minutes later.
Long overdue