Mayor Pablo C. Ortega announced here yesterday that the City Government has acquired four more traffic lights recently to ease traffic congestions that has slowly becoming one of the major problems by both motorists and pedestrians in the city proper.
The Mayor said that the present traffic lights installed in front of the City Hall along the former Rizal Avenue (now Don P acoy Ortega Highway) is an old model, that it has failed to synchronize with the new one along P. Burgos St. corner Quezon Ave.
“I asked the contractors if it is possible to remodel the old one so that it can keep up with the new one but he said it is difficult for it is an old model,” Mayor Ortega said.
The newly-acquired traffic gadgets will be installed on the main avenues such as on along Don P. Ortega Highway (in front of the City Hall); at Quezon Ave.(in front of Plaza Hotel); Quezon Ave. (in front of The John-John’s Centerpoint). These three new-model traffic lights will be synchronized to update motorists’ and pedestrians’ shifting movements. The fourth traffic light will be installed at the four intersections of the San Fernando Diversion Road in Barangay Tanqui.
The old model will be relocated at the Gov. Ortega St. corner Don P. Ortega Highway, west of Quezon Ave.
Quezon Avenue along the city proper is a part of the National Highway, where transportations going south and north or to and from Metro Manila pass along, thus considered as the city’s main artery.
“I also requested Cong. Victor Ortega for two more new-model letter T-type traffic lights and to be placed at the CSI (Mall) Diversion Road and a Barangay Sevilla,” The Mayor added.
He added that they are leaving the present traffic lights for 24 hours to slow down vehicles passing through the city proper at night, which, he said, tend to speed-up, particularly during night times. “It’s just scary because many people are still roaming the city even during 1 or 2 A.M.”
Meanwhile in a related development, Mayor Ortega also reiterated that they are now requiring businessmen who intend to erect their buildings here to include in their building plans their own parking spaces.
“It (parking areas) should more or less proportionate to their type of businesses because if we don’t do it now, it (traffic) becomes worse in the future,” he explained.
He further explained that there is already an existing ordinance on the said requirement but was not implemented by the mayors before them.
On existing buildings, the Mayor said that if they will require each to put up their parking spaces now, there would be many buildings that would be chipped-off.
“At that time, “50s and 60s, there were only few vehicles traveling along the main roads so perhaps it was just OK not to have parking spaces.”
In other related developments, the Mayor once again, appealed to all business establishment owners to remove all encroachments on pedestrian sidewalks and streets. This is in line with the plans to give way to the major repairs of sidewalks and drainage canals before the implementation of one-way-systems on selected streets and designation of new strategic parking areas.
The Mayor added that he has sought the help of La Union Governor Manuel C. Ortega for the completion of the north and south public utility vehicle terminals. “The Governor has given in to my request and awaiting the BPPC (Bauang Power Plant Corp.) tax fund to help us.”
He also announced that a bicycle-tricycle lane along Sevilla to San Juan on the Diversion Road will soon be realized with the release of the national funds to finance the completion of the San Fernando Diversion to San Juan extension road. “That was a dream we initiated with former mayor Mary Jane Ortega,” he said.
“We may even have the Diversion Road extended to Bauang as I told Vice Governor Martin De Guzman, as alternate route,” he also said. He added that with the big share from the BPPC tax fund of Bauang, it can finance the project if plans are pushed through; otherwise this is an option route going to Manila and Baguio. |
