THE Regional Development Council in the Cordillera Administrative Region (RDC-CAR) and the Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC-CAR) will be tackling the clamor of motorists and residents living in the communities to re-open Kennon Road.
RDC and RPOC chairman Mauricio Domogan, also the city mayor of Baguio, said the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH-CAR) will be asked if Kennon Road can be opened to light vehicles to help ease the worsening traffic congestions along Marcos highway and other major roads leading to the city.
Domogan 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.
Domogan, meanwhile, said 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.
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 city. (PR)