The City Peace and Order Council and the Baguio-La Trinidad-Itogon-Sablan-Tuba-Tublay (BLISTT) Development Authority, both chaired by the Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong reiterated their request for the reopening of Kennon Road to the public this yuletide season.
The two councils recently passed a resolution requesting the Kennon Road Task Force and the Department of Public Works and Highways-Cordillera to open Kennon immediately.
The mayor asked the agencies supervising the maintenance of the national road to address safety concerns as well as fast track repair and rehabilitation activities as well as clear all illegally parked vehicles thereat.
The following observations were noted by the councils along Kennon Road, potentially endangering the safety of motorists and detracting from the route’s aesthetic scenery: presence of obstructions due to road repair and rehabilitation activities; uncleared debris from landslides; illegally parked vehicles; and, lack of early warning signs to inform motorists of obstructions ahead.
Kennon Road is one of the major access roads leading to Baguio City and Benguet and is the shortest route to Rosario, La Union to Baguio City with a total length of 33.7 kilometers but it was closed to the riding public due to its unsafe state especially aggravated by recent typhoons and earthquakes.
As a result of the closure of Kennon Road, alternate routes to Baguio City and Benguet have been experiencing heavy traffic at the inconvenience of residents and tourists alike.
“Traffic in the alternate routes is only expected to worsen in December, when travel and tourist arrivals are at its peak,” the MBLISSTDA resolution pointed out.
The mayor believes that full reopening of Kennon Road at the soonest possible time, provided that all the foregoing concerns are addressed, will result to multiple benefits that include comfort and convenience of motorists, cost and time savings, decongestion of alternate roads, and reinvigorated economic activity along the route. – Jessa Mardy P. Samidan
