DPWH working on long-term rehab of Kennon Road

MANILA, Philippines – Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar on Wednesday assured the public that the Kennon Road in Baguio City would not be permanently closed as the agency was eyeing a long-term solution to address the problems plaguing the landslide-prone road.

Villar said in a Meet Inquirer forum that the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) was finalizing a masterplan to solve Kennon Road’s biggest problem: frequent landslides.

“Alam naman natin yung Kennon Road is very landslide-prone. On the part of DPWH, gumagawa kami ng masterplan para ma-solve itong problema sa landslide and at the same time nire-repair namin yung na-damage (sa Kennon Road),” Villar said in the forum.

As to the budgeting for 2019, Villar said he was looking to fund a long-term plan that would use new technologies to make Kennon Road safe for motorists.

“My objective at this point is to fund a long term plan for the safety using the new technologies,” Villar said.

“That’s something we’re working on this year, especially given the susceptibility to natural calamities. That will be the focus this year. Tinatapos lang namin yung master plan,” he added.

Currently, the DPWH is repairing the damage the Kennon Road sustained from previous typhoons. DPWH engineers are targeting to finish their work by February, the Panagbenga month.

“Naiintindihan ko naman marami pong na-inconvenience dahil sa closure ng Kennon Road. Pero sana maintindihan niyo po na yung pinakamahalaga po sa amin yung safety talaga,” the DPWH secretary said.

“Kaunti na lang malapit na ma-repair yung bridge. Of course, sana maintindihan po ng ating mga kababayan na hindi rin ganoon kabilis yung restoration ng bridge syempre kailangan din i-reassure na safe talaga yung daan,” he added.

He assured that the DPWH would not be permanently closing the shorter path to Baguio City as the agency wanted a “permanent solution to the perennial problem of Kennon Road.”/ac