Pedestrianization Experiment on Session Road starts

August 20, 2019964 views0

The city council has approved the temporary closure of Session Road, particularly the lane going up every Sunday. The said traffic experiment officially started last Sunday, August 18, 2019 and will be executed for a period of six months.

Ordinance on closure of Session Road

Under the ordinance covering the city’s main thoroughfare, the closure of the lane going up shall be done every Sunday, from 6:00 AM to 9:00 PM. Moreover, the area to be closed will start from the part of the road in front of the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) up to the pedestrian crossing in front of Baguio Post Office.

Other conditions include the following:

TRAFFIC AND PARKING

Session Road-Mabini Intersection shall remain open to vehicles coming from Gen. Luna going to Harrison Road.
Parking along Session Road’s uphill lane will not be allowed from 12 midnight of every Saturday until 9:00 PM of Sunday.

EXPERIMENTATION AND IMPLEMENTATION

In pursuant to Section 2 of ordinance No. 21, series of 2011, the experiment shall last for not more than six months. Hence, the traffic scheme will automatically return to original state if no ordinance is created after the experimental period of six months.
Two weeks before implementing the traffic experiment, the local government shall educate the public regarding the closure and its purposes.
Before implementing changes, the public should be informed of any plans to modify the scheme during the experimental period.
Before enacting an ordinance incorporating the experiment, there shall be a consultation by agencies involved or a public hearing.
The Traffic and Transportation Management Committee (TTMC) shall present a preliminary report within 2 weeks of the experiment to the mayor and the city council.
For safety purposes, there should be barriers and signages in place during the experimental period.
TTMC shall submit an evaluation report before the experimental period lapses or before an ordinance is to be created.
The city mayor shall determine whether there’s a need to terminate the scheme earlier or extend it otherwise.

Prior to this, Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong said that the purpose of the proposed closure of Session Road’s lane going up is to improve air quality in the city by reducing vehicle emissions. Also, as part of the city’s program to develop healthy lifestyle among people through physical activities, they’d like to promote Baguio as a #walkablecity and encourage both tourists and residents to walk more.

Moreover, Mayor Magalong also said that the traffic experiment on Session Road is part of the local government’s plan to pedestrianize a part of the said thoroughfare.

The Baguio City Police Office (BCPO) was also tasked to create a re-routing plan and inform motorists about it to prevent confusion during the implementation.

For inquiries, kindly contact BCPO through the following numbers:
GLOBE: 09175758993
SMART: 09985987739
LANDLINE NUMBERS: 442-1211/442-7944/6611471/422-9953