Authorities impose traffic schedule on Kennon Road

With Kennon Road only partially passable, public works officials have set traffic schedule to manage the flow of vehicles to and from Baguio City. "Maglalagay tayo ng traffic controller para ma-control ang flow (We will put traffic controllers in place to control the flow of traffic)," Public Works Undersecretary Romeo Momo said in an interview on dwIZ radio. A separate report by radio dzBB's Carlo Mateo said it would take hours for vehicles from nearby areas to get to Baguio City due to boulders and mounds of soil blocking the road. Baguio City has been isolated from other parts of Luzon since landslides and floods caused by tropical typhoon “Pepeng" (Parma) struck northern Luzon last week. Pepeng had weakened into a tropical depression went it left Philippine territory over the weekend. Under the traffic schedule, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) allows Kennon Road to be used by vehicles going down from Baguio City to La Union from 5 a.m. to 12 noon. From 12 noon to 6 p.m., only light vehicles going up to Baguio will be allowed to use the road, the dzBB report said.

Momo said the DPWH is trying to haul heavy equipment along the road to clear it of obstacles. He also said they are using dynamite to blow away boulders and obstacles. He also said the partial opening of Kennon Road should allow passage of vehicles carrying diesel fuel and food to Baguio City. DZBB’s Carlo Mateo reported early Monday morning that all gasoline stations in Baguio City have been closed, as well as those in La Trinidad town in Benguet province. Clearing operations DPWH workers have been working round-the-clock to clear the Naguilian Road and the Marcos Highway - two other access roads to Baguio City aside from Kennon Road, Momo said. "Nagba-blasting tayo ngayon, gumagamit ng dynamite para mabiyak ang mga batong nahulog doon na ‘di kaya ng bulldozer at wrecker. Kaya medyo matagal ang operation, malalaking bato ang nahuhulog sa kalsada (We are using dynamite to destroy the boulders that our heavy equipment cannot budge. These boulders have hampered our clearing operations)," he added. "Hopefully by today (Monday), kung walang ulan, mahabol ng tao natin ang palilinis ng Marcos Highway. Kung ‘di talaga, early tomorrow (Tuesday) matapos at ma-open ito in case walang ibang problema (Hopefully by today we can open Marcos Highway if it does not rain. If not, we hope to have it done by Tuesday)," he said. Momo said DPWH teams are also working to reopen Naguilian Road. "We have our hands full in repair and restoration of national highways," he said. For his part, Baguio City Mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr. said they are prioritizing the opening of the roads to address the problem of emergency supplies. “Priority natin ang pagbubukas ng daan at sa pamamagitan nun maraming problema na ang maso-solve (We are prioritizing the reopening of the roads so that a lot of problems would be solved)," he said in an interview on dwIZ.- GMANews.TV