Baguio night market to be relocated

The Baguio night market, currently located along a 500-meter stretch of Harrison road, will transfer its operations to Burnham Lake Drive (or Jose Abad Santos Drive). The local government has resolved to do this in order to avoid closing one of the city’s main thoroughfares which is Harrison Road.

According to Mayor Magalong, they originally looked into transferring the nightly activity to Athletic Bowl’s concrete portion. However, based on the survey findings by the City Engineering Office (CEO), the area can’t cater to over 1,044 vendors that occupy the original site of the night market.

With this, they have decided that the best area for the relocation is Burnham Lake Drive, which is adjacent to the original site.

DPWH: Harrison Road, a national road

Prior to the relocation plans, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) notified the City Buildings and Architecture Office (CBAO)-Baguio that Harrison Road is a national road and should not be unnecessarily closed to traffic to pave way for the night market.

But since the nightly activity serves a tourist attraction and a source of income of more than a thousand vendors in the city, Mayor Magalong moved to relocate its operations. Also, the night market is known to generate an annual income of PHP 14 to 16 million without requiring much infrastructure.

And in response to the notice sent by DPWH, the city mayor directed the CEO to conduct an inspection on the proposed site and evaluate the current conditions and other factors that might affect the relocation.

Mayor Magalong also suggests the use of uniformly designed tents to make the night market a better tourist attraction. And to add to that, he reminds vendors to abide by the rules of the night market, including the no cooking policy, in order to enjoy its continuous operations.