Kennon opened for a month to allow more Baguio visitors in February

The Lion’s Head along Kennon Road (in this December 2019 photograph) was spruced up for tourists taking the scenic route to Baguio for this year’s February activities like the annual flower festival. PHOTO BY EV ESPIRITU

BAGUIO CITY –– To accommodate the increase in Baguio visitors this February and the first week of March, scenic Kennon Road would be open during weekdays from 6:01 p.m. to 5:59 a.m. exclusively for motorists headed up the summer capital to attend this year’s Baguio Flower Festival, the annual homecoming of the Philippine Military Academy or the 2020 Cordillera Administrative Region Athletic Association Meet.

Motorists must still take the Marcos Highway or Naguillian Road when they drive down from Mondays to Fridays, according to Albert Mogol, Cordillera director of the Office of Civil Defense, citing a Jan. 27 decision of the Inter-Agency Task Force overseeing the century-old zigzag road.

Two-way traffic through Kennon will be permitted during weekends, beginning Friday (Jan. 31). Tourists can travel up and down the road from 6 a.m. on Fridays until 6 p.m. on Mondays. This travel scheme will be enforced on Jan. 31 to Feb. 3, Feb. 7-10, Feb. 14-17, Feb. 21-24, Feb. 28 to Mar. 2, and Mar. 6-9.

The Panagbenga festival starts with an opening parade on Feb. 1 and will continue with month-long activities until the grand street dancing and float parades on the last weekend of February. PMA alumni are expected here on Feb. 13, while Cordillera school athletes will converge here on Feb. 16.

The city is also expecting Tagaytay tourists to be diverted here, following the impact of the Taal volcano eruption, according to a Task Force advisory.

Kennon travel has been restricted because of weak mountain sections that erode due to strong rain. But the Cordillera Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office heeded Baguio’s request to open Kennon all week-long to ease congestion at Marcos Highway, the primary access route to the city.

Edited by Lzb