BAGUIO CITY March 07 – The City Council approved on first reading a proposed ordinance mandating the construction of a multi-level parking building to be located at Camp Henry T. Allen and appropriating the required funds to complete the project.
The ordinance authored by Councilor Maria Mylen Victoria G. Yaranon stated the proposed multi-level parking within the jurisdiction of Camp Henry T. Allen will be used as parking space, evacuation center, livelihood center, basketball court, training area for the Bureau of Fire Protection and to house pay public toilets.
The City Buildings and Architecture Office (CBAO) was tasked by the local legislative body to prepare the program of work, plans and design of the multi-level parking building to determine the required funds needed to complete the structure so that it will be included in the budget for the coming year.
The construction of various multi-level parking buildings had been proposed by various experts to help decongest the tremendous traffic jams around the city caused by the absence of available and sufficient parking spaces forcing vehicle owners to simply park their vehicles in vacant areas and even on shoulders of roads around the city.
The ordinance recognized the fact that the growing vehicle population of the city has created many problems and one of the challenging issues is vehicle parking which the local government and concerned government agencies are being confronted with daily.
Aside from the problem of space for cars moving on the road, the ordinance stated parked vehicles along the various roads obstruct the smooth flow of vehicular and pedestrian traffic that often result in tremendous traffic jams not only in the central business district but also in other heavily populated barangays in the city.
Within the City Hall area, the ordinance claimed there are only 185 available parking slots that cater to the 24 parking slots for clients and visitors, 256 government vehicles, 252 vehicles of government officials and employees, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) and a daily average of 200 vehicles of clients and visitors.
The local government will be tasked to operate the multi-level parking building to provide adequate parking spaces to clients and visitors regularly transacting business with the various offices not only in City Hall but also in the Justice Hall, Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), BJMP, the Baguio City Police Office (BCPO) and other government and private offices within the City Hall area.
Another area being eyed as the possible location for multi-level parking structures include the Ganza parking area and the site of the old city library within Burnham Park which is now being utilized as a pay parking area for motor vehicles going to the park.
The putting up of multi-level parking structures by private organizations is also being encouraged by the local government to help address the absence of available parking spaces around the city to be used by residents and visitors alike.**By Dexter A. See
