Alternative transport / command center, sidewalk funds for Baguio

CITY HALL BEAT

Aileen P. Refuerzo

BAGUIO CITY – The city government and the Dept. of Transportation are exploring alternative transportation programs to ease the traffic problem in the city.

Mayor Benjamin Magalong in the Executive-Legislative meeting Sept. 23 announced that DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade offered for the city to enter into a memorandum of agreement with the department for the pursuit of a cable car system from Pugo in La Union to Baguio.

The mayor who met with the secretary last week said Tugade instructed Undersecretary Mark Richmund De Leon to fast track the deal for the project which Tugade first broached in 2016.

               Conceptual designs for the project, the first in the country, will be provided to the city for review prior to the forging of the agreement. 

The cable car system was reportedly the subject of a P26 million feasibility study funded by the French government targeted for completion this year.

               Apart from Baguio, another target site for the project is the Pasig River.

The mayor said Tugade also expressed willingness to help the city should it decide to pursue the monorail project.

It will be recalled that a multi-billion monorail project had been proposed between the city and La Trinidad town in Benguet by the Department of Science and Technology-Cordillera.

A pre-feasibility study showed that the 5.2-kilometer line of the Automated Guideway Transit (AGT) from the provincial capital to the Slaughterhouse Compound in Baguio would require P3.8 billion while the 2.1-kilometer AGT line from the Bonifacio rotunda up to the SM City Baguio passing through the central business district area will cost approximately P2.9 billion.

The project was presented to the Regional Development Council (RDC) in 2017.

Magalong said the city will also submit an expression of interest (EOI) as potential pilot project site for Low Carbon Urban Transport Systems in the Philippines Project of the DOTr.

In a letter to the mayor, Undersecretary De Leon said the LCUTS is “one of the projects of the DOTr in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) which aims to promote sustainable transportation system in the country through the creation of an enabling environment for both motorized and non-motorized low carbon alternatives.”

Local government unit grantees must be willing to join the project through and EOI or a resolution of support from the city council and must have a draft Local Public Transport Rationalization Plan (LPTRP) and an accredited transport cooperative or fleet operator with potential to implement the project of the LGU.

As a grantee of the project, the LGU will be aided in the following: development of guidelines or ordinance on low carbon transport systems with support infrastructures like charging station locations and right-of-way; formulation of Public Utility Vehicle Transport Plan; development of expertise in local universities to provide advisory support to the LGU; and provide encouragement to private sectors to provide support or investment on the project.

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Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar approved in principle Mayor Magalong’s request for additional funding for the city’s sidewalk development project for 2020.

Magalong who met with the secretary last week said Villar agreed to the additional P50 million to augment the P69 million appropriation from the city and the DPWH regional office for the project that aims to rehabilitate existing sidewalks and construct new ones to provide pedestrians safe and convenient access and mobility along walkways and roads.

The city through the City Engineering Office and the City Administrator’s Office will undertake the project in collaboration with the DPWH Baguio City District Engineering Office.

The mayor said they requested for fund augmentation to ensure the quality of the sidewalk projects.

The CEO under Engr. Edgar Victorio Olpindo started the project this year using the P25 million budget allocated for 2019.

He said they prioritized the project which will cover more than 100 kilometers of sidewalks scheduled for implementation this year and the next.

The program has three prongs: sidewalk repair for existing walkways that are dilapidated; sidewalk recovery for those that are within the road right-of-ways but are encroached upon; and sidewalk construction for areas that have no existing footways.

In some areas, the office undertook partial recovery by designating a walkway with paint and symbols that signify that that strip is off limits to vehicles.

City Administrator Bonifacio Dela Pena said the city and the DPWH have been collaborating on the best design of the sidewalks with the use of Tactile tiles and ramps to aid persons with disabilities.

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The 200 million funding for the establishment of an integrated command center in the city has been approved in principle.

Mayor Magalong said Senator Bong Go in their meeting last week assured the approval of the funding and promised to personally follow it up with President Duterte.

The President last June committed to help the city set up the command center which will address concerns on peace and order, disaster response and traffic management in the city.

Magalong upon assumption as city executive submitted to the Department of Interior and the Local Government (DILG) the plans and specifications of the project for funding purposes.

The integrated command center will be housed initially at the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) building integrating the current operation of the closed-circuit television (CCTV) project of the city government.

It is planned to be equipped with state-of-the-art equipment and gadgets focused on addressing disaster risk reduction, peace and order and traffic management.

The project will be done in coordination with the DILG, the Office of the President and the Department of Information and Communication Technology. – Aileen P. Refuerzo