MBLISTTDA, CPOC clamors reopening of Kennon Road to public
The Metropolitan Baguio City, La Trinidad, Itogon, Sablan, Tuba and Tublay Development Authority (MBLISTTDA) Council together with the Baguio City Peace and Order Council (CPOC) passed resolutions recommending the reopening of Kennon Road to the riding public at the soonest possible time.
MBLISTTDA Resolution No. 8, series of 2023 and CPOC Resolution No. 8, series of 2023 both urges the Inter-agency Task Force (IATF) Kennon under the Office of Civil Defense and the Department of Public Works and Highways to open Kennon Road immediately after addressing the road’s safety concerns as well as fast track repair and rehabilitation activities.
The resolutions also urge the IATF Kennon to assist the Tuba local government in its clearing and anti-illegal parking activities.
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 the Province of 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.
Kennon Road is only opened occasionally to light vehicles during special events to help decongest Marcos Highway and other roads leading to Baguio City.
As a result of the closure of Kennon Road, alternate routes to Baguio City and the Province of 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.
Both the MBLISTTDA and the CPOOC 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.
Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong is the chairperson of both the MBLISTTDA Council and the CPOC. – JMPS