Baguio City council to DPWH: Present Kennon repair status

By Dexter A. See

BAGUIO CITY – City officials urged regional and Baguio offices of the Dept. of Public works and Highways–Cordillera Administrative Region to submit updated status report on the ongoing rehabilitation of Kennon Road.
    Under resolution 148, series of 2021, signed by Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong, city councilors cited need for the city legislative body to be updated on the matter to include plans and projects, implementation timelines for road clearing and documents of projects being implemented along the major road going in and out of the city.
    Earlier, the DPWH-CAR presented to the city council its long-term solutions and accomplishments on rehabilitation of Kennon road to ensure this will become an all-weather road once all landslide-prone areas have been rehabilitated through slope protection projects funded by the national government.
     Kennon road has been closed to vehicular traffic since the 1990s except for residents living in communities along the stretch of the 34-km highway after concerned agencies declared serious threats to road users from unpredictable landslides and erosions along critical sections of the road that need to be rehabilitated.
    Kennon Road, formerly the Benguet Road, constructed in 1903 and opened in 1905, is the shortest route from the lowlands to Baguio.
    It served as the city’s major road to the lowlands prior to the July 16, 1990 killer earthquake that caused its closure to vehicular traffic because of unstable rock and soil formations along the road.
     From time to time, Kennon road has been opened to light vehicles during special occasions in the city to help decongest Marcos highway, the main road leading to the city proper.
     Since the road was heavily devastated by the 1990 killer quake, the DPWH had set funds for projects to stabilize slopes, but the  national highway was deemed dangerous due to unstable slopes.
    Options are being considered to ensure maintenance of the road and make it an all-weather highway.