March 29, 2024

A temporary alternate route going to Barangay Lubas in La Trinidad, Benguet was opened in Barangay Balili pending the construction of the Pines Park bridge.
Mayor Romeo Salda led the opening of the P3.89-million worth road on Feb. 2, which was funded under the municipality’s Local Risk Reduction and Management Quick Response Fund.
The two-way gravel dirt road was a subject of an earlier memorandum of agreement of the local government of La Trinidad with Benguet State University, which owns the lot where the road was opened. BSU will allow the municipality and the public free temporary use of the dirt road for one year.
The municipality will be responsible for the maintenance of the road and will not introduce any major improvements in the area. It will also provide assistance and traffic enforcer and ensure the whole stretch of the Balili Road would be free from parked vehicles at all times.
Prior to the opening of the alternate road, residents of Lubas and Central Balili had to pass through Tawang to go to their residences due to the closure of the Pines Park bridge which connects the area coming from Halsema Highway at Km. 4.
Based on the recent multi-stakeholder dialogue between the municipality, the Department of Public Works and Highways, La Trinidad Municipal Police Station, Balili officials, and residents, the Pines Park bridge would be revamped but will be retained as a single lane.
Last year, the initial endorsement of the DPWH during the public consultation for the bridge’s renovation was to make it into a two-lane, steel girder bridge, with nine to 10 meters width and 43 meters long.
However, this would affect some residences near the bridge prompting the affected residents to request for the retention of the bridge’s single-lane design.
The DPWH is fast-tracking the program of works of the project. – Ofelia C. Empian