Baguio City sidewalk works, Covid update
>> Friday, January 1, 2021
CITY
HALL BEAT
Aileen P. Refuerzo
Aileen P. Refuerzo
BAGUIO CITY -- Sidewalks along the city’s central business district are up for a makeover in 2021 not only for beautification purposes but also for health and safety reasons as necessitated by the Coronavirus disease pandemic.
City planning
and development coordinator architect Donna Tabangin said the city will pursue
the repair, recovery and improvement of sidewalks next year to make them
unimpeded, safe and convenient as well as pleasing to the eyes.
She said part of the plan will be to require shops or stalls fronting the sidewalks to move their display or business areas by .6 meters from the walkways.
With the .6 meter setback, customers could be afforded space to transact or avail of products within the confines of the stores instead of occupying portions of sidewalks and impede the flow of people.
The sidewalk improvement project was started in 2019 by the City Engineering Office under City Engr. Edgar Victorio Olpindo using a P20 million fund allocation. Another P20 million was allotted for its continuation in 2020.
Mayor Benjamin Magalong included the project in the city’s priority list and worked out additional budget with the help of the Dept. of Public Works and Highways.
The CEO and City Administrator Bonifacio Dela Peña also collaborated with the DPWH district engineering office on the design of the walkways with the use of tactile technology.
The program of work covered by the P20 million allocation had been bidded out for the installation of tactile surfaces, widening, resurfacing, construction of waiting sheds and installation of signages in various areas for implementation in 2021.
This will be continued as the city secured additional funds from external sources like the DPWH.
Olpindo earlier said they prioritized the project which covered more than 100 kilometers of sidewalks implemented in 2019 specifically along school zones.
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.
***
Proactivity has been Baguio’s key in its ongoing fight against the Covid-19.
Mayor Benjamin Magalong said the city faced the pandemic challenge by making use of the crisis management principles anchored on proactivity and sense of urgency.
“We had to be proactive and thinking of the long-term. We had to be forward-looking and always one or two steps in advance because acting late without any sense of urgency would lead to a big consequence,” he said.
He said this principle was applied on all the systems and strategies employed by the city in tackling the health crisis – prevention; detection through expanded testing, contact tracing; quarantine and isolation, treatment and reintegration.
He said with these systems in place, the city is prepared to face the continuing challenges as the city continues its balancing act of ensuring the health and safety of the people while reopening the economy while waiting for the vaccination program to roll out.
He said the city still has to contend with the economic blows dealt by the pandemic which the city is gradually addressing by sustaining the thrust for a slow, sure, safe economic revival program.
The health crisis had resulted to massive losses in the city’s tourism business, employment and city government revenues resulting to a big cut in the city’s budget for 2021.
She said part of the plan will be to require shops or stalls fronting the sidewalks to move their display or business areas by .6 meters from the walkways.
With the .6 meter setback, customers could be afforded space to transact or avail of products within the confines of the stores instead of occupying portions of sidewalks and impede the flow of people.
The sidewalk improvement project was started in 2019 by the City Engineering Office under City Engr. Edgar Victorio Olpindo using a P20 million fund allocation. Another P20 million was allotted for its continuation in 2020.
Mayor Benjamin Magalong included the project in the city’s priority list and worked out additional budget with the help of the Dept. of Public Works and Highways.
The CEO and City Administrator Bonifacio Dela Peña also collaborated with the DPWH district engineering office on the design of the walkways with the use of tactile technology.
The program of work covered by the P20 million allocation had been bidded out for the installation of tactile surfaces, widening, resurfacing, construction of waiting sheds and installation of signages in various areas for implementation in 2021.
This will be continued as the city secured additional funds from external sources like the DPWH.
Olpindo earlier said they prioritized the project which covered more than 100 kilometers of sidewalks implemented in 2019 specifically along school zones.
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.
***
Proactivity has been Baguio’s key in its ongoing fight against the Covid-19.
Mayor Benjamin Magalong said the city faced the pandemic challenge by making use of the crisis management principles anchored on proactivity and sense of urgency.
“We had to be proactive and thinking of the long-term. We had to be forward-looking and always one or two steps in advance because acting late without any sense of urgency would lead to a big consequence,” he said.
He said this principle was applied on all the systems and strategies employed by the city in tackling the health crisis – prevention; detection through expanded testing, contact tracing; quarantine and isolation, treatment and reintegration.
He said with these systems in place, the city is prepared to face the continuing challenges as the city continues its balancing act of ensuring the health and safety of the people while reopening the economy while waiting for the vaccination program to roll out.
He said the city still has to contend with the economic blows dealt by the pandemic which the city is gradually addressing by sustaining the thrust for a slow, sure, safe economic revival program.
The health crisis had resulted to massive losses in the city’s tourism business, employment and city government revenues resulting to a big cut in the city’s budget for 2021.
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