TUBA, Benguet– Starting Monday, this upland town will implement a new traffic scheme on Marcos Highway leading to Baguio City.
Chief Inspector James Acod, Tuba chief of police, said on Wednesday the plan was agreed upon after his meeting with several government agencies, police units from Baguio and the towns of Pugo, Rosario and Tubao, as well as vegetable and chicken dung dealers.
Acod said the meeting with stakeholders focused on the creation of a traffic management scheme to address the issues on transportation and public safety, especially on Marcos Highway and Kennon Road, a large portion of which are in Tuba.
Tuba Vice Mayor Clarita Sal-ongan and Councilor Noel Saguid, chair of the committee on Transportation, also attended the meeting.
Under the new traffic scheme, light vehicles going up to Baguio through the Marcos Highway will be diverted to Tubao junction (La Union) towards Asin Road and exit at Barangay San Roque in Baguio City, beside the Baguio City Police Station (BCPO) station 1. But all buses and trucks will be allowed to go up using Marcos Highway.
Acod said the immediate implementation of the scheme was anchored on the prevailing bad weather, road accidents and traffic jam along Marcos Highway, especially at the slide area after the fly-over, where accident usually occur due to the difficulty to ascend the steep slope.
For the proper implementation of the traffic scheme, police heads from Pugo, Tubao and Rosario in La Union committed to support the traffic scheme.
“We have a good communication and coordination with them on this traffic scheme,” Acod said.
He added that proper traffic advisory signages will be installed in strategic areas to inform the motorists of the new traffic scheme.
To ensure public safety and to maintain the free flow of traffic at Kennon Road and Marcos Highway, the Tuba Police recommended that a close monitoring and prompt reporting by the Department of Pubic Works and Highways (DPWH) of impending rockfall, or slide, and the strict implementation of speed limit will be enforced.
Meanwhile to address the traffic problem along Marcos Highway, the town’s legislative body passed a resolution reiterating and requesting DPWH to allot funds for the construction of a safety inspection station (SIS) at the Baguio City Limit in the Badiwan section of Marcos Highway.
The town council cited the increasing number of vehicular accidents along the Marcos Highway, particularly at the City Limit and Barangay Poblacion.
Aside from the resolution, Vice Mayor Sal-ongan had earlier filed a proposed ordinance, which is now on its second reading, organizing the municipal auxiliary traffic enforcers to help man the road.
Earlier, the council approved an ordinance providing speed limits for all motor vehicles within Tuba. **Primo Agatep/ PNA
