By Ferdinand Patinio/PNA
MANILA — The Kennon Road will be temporarily opened to motorists to allow travelers going to Baguio City for the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Alumni Homecoming and Panagbenga Festival.
Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Mark Villar said the road will be open from February 14 to 18 and from February 22 to March 4.
The Kennon Road Task Force recommended the temporary opening of the road to motor vehicles with maximum weight of five tons, in a bid to reduce the volume of vehicles plying Marcos Highway.
“The DPWH-CAR (Cordillera Administrative Region) and other members of Kennon Road Task Force have agreed to open Kennon Road just for motorists going to Baguio. Those leaving Baguio can then utilize Marcos Highway, Naguilian Road or the Asin-Nangalisan-San Pascual-Tubao Road,” Villar said in a statement.
The task force also recommended the road’s temporary opening during the weekends to give enough time for DPWH to complete the ongoing projects during weekdays.
Kennon Road, one of the main thoroughfares to the country’s summer capital, has been closed for repairs due to the onslaught of Typhoon Ompong (Mangkhut) in September last year.
Meanwhile, DPWH-CAR officer-in-charge Tiburcio Canlas noted that residents plying Kennon Road can be allowed provided they have submitted their plate numbers to be included in the list of exemption endorsed by their respective barangay chairman to Tuba, Benguet Mayor Ignacio Rivera.
The Kennon Road Task Force is headed by Office of Civil Defense, together with DPWH regional offices, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Philippine National Police, Bureau of Fire Protection, the local government units of Tuba and Baguio City and other stakeholders.
